


Muzzled Wolves

by depozyt



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Car Sex, Cottagecore, Developing Relationship, Families of Choice, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mating Bites, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Semi-Public Sex, Smut, background chankai & seho, past bullying, side xiuchenlay, wolfdogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:00:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26796268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/depozyt/pseuds/depozyt
Summary: He was a loner, and besides, he didn't want to associate with wolves who automatically assumed they were better than him—a mutt.(After leaving his old pack for good, Kyungsoo thought he was doomed to be a lone wolf. It took Baekhyun one summer to prove him wrong.)
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Do Kyungsoo | D.O
Comments: 10
Kudos: 135
Collections: EXO MONSTERFEST 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> written for monsterfest round four, self-prompt
> 
> warnings! past bullying, minor violence (description of a fight, and mentions of biting), minor mentions of blood throughout the whole fic, minor injuries, some alcohol.
> 
> this fic is a love letter to a summer home that exists only in my memory now :') and it's probably about as sappy as some actual love letters. also, please, don't buy actual wolfdogs without, at the very least, doing extensive research and if you aren't an experienced dog owner.
> 
> btw, this isn't an omegaverse fic!! just regular werewolves, okay, no ass-slick involved, they have to use regular lube. whenever the term alpha pops up it's just used as a synonym for "leader" or "parental figure" in some cases.

Kyungsoo was fucked, utterly fucked—his car was dead. He managed to drive it to the nearest gas station, but it wouldn't start. There was a knocking sound when he tried to turn the engine over and it sounded very, _very_ broken.

"I'm sorry, champ, you'll have to ask around. I can't help you, but I think your engine is dead."

"Dead?"

"Kaput." The older man working at the gas station pretended to strangle himself. "It won't start." That much Kyungsoo could see.

“Are you sure it’s not just the gas?” Kyungsoo decided to play dumb. Maybe the universe would let him go if he pretended that nothing happened. 

“Champ, you don’t look like a person who would forget to pump their gas. You wolves are good with these kinda things.” He looked at Kyungsoo with respect. “Today’s the full moon, isn’t it?”

Kyungsoo nodded, a strange pride resonating in his chest. It felt good to receive affirmation from a complete stranger—to be seen as a _wolf_. 

“Neighborhood wolves have formed a pack here, if you walk west for… about twenty minutes, you’ll see a house that belongs to one of them. I’m sure he’ll help you,” the man said, the corners of his lips barely lifted, making his wrinkles more prominent.

This wasn’t a good day. Kyungsoo went behind the gas station, sighed, and stripped down, neatly folding the clothes and putting them in his backpack. The sun rays felt almost hot on his naked skin, but the soil under his feet was still cold and the light wind made him shiver. 

He never liked what the transformation felt like, his skin and bones stretching thanks to magic, changing his form. But it was much quicker to run with four legs, maybe if he sprinted there was still a chance to get to the shelter before the full moon. Kyungsoo hoped that the other wolf didn’t mind mutts, otherwise he was screwed.

His shin still hurt, despite his best attempts to let it heal. There was no time for him to go to a doctor or even a witch, but as long as he could run and drive his car he was fine. It was enough, barely, but he had nothing left except for his body, his car, as well as a few bags filled with clothes and trinkets.

He ran, his paws sinking into the wet soil, the cold air brushing through his thick, black fur—it felt like freedom. He could be truly independent for the few, short minutes it took him to reach the house; it wasn’t enough, it’d never be enough.

Kyungsoo could sense the other wolf’s house from afar. The two-story cottage was painted beige and pastel-green on the sides with matching chairs sitting on the front porch. A large oak tree grew on the left side, providing much-needed shade to the flowers blooming by the path leading to the entrance. Two wind chimes hung over big pots filled with herbs and different spices. 

He had to change back, quickly put on his clothes, and even his breath, his lungs feeling shallow like all the air on this planet wasn’t enough.

Knocking on the stranger’s doors was an unsettling experience. Typically, Kyungsoo wouldn’t care—on a normal day, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But today was the first of many full moons he was going to spend as a lone wolf—what a terrifying realization.

“My car broke down,” Kyungsoo said dryly when the door opened.

The wolf was young, about his age, and his whole posture screamed dominance and self-reliance. He wasn't tall or sturdily built, in fact, he resembled Kyungsoo in a lot of ways. And yet, it was so obvious that if he transformed he could rip out Kyungsoo's throat in a matter of seconds. He wouldn't stand a chance.

_A true alpha._

Kyungsoo gulped—he was being ridiculous, nothing bad was going to happen. "Could you help me? My car broke down, I left it at the gas station. I don't think there's anyone else who could help me." He puffed his chest, trying to make himself seem larger.

The man blinked at him in surprise, probably trying to process the information. "I—yes, of course! I'll have to take Mongryong with me," he said as he reached for something hanging on the wall next to him. "You can call me Baekhyun, by the way." He smiled politely. 

"I'm Kyungsoo," he mumbled, his eyes stuck to the floor. "There's something wrong with my engine, I'll need to get it repaired."

Baekhyun nodded. "No worries, I’ll take the tow rope and my dog, and I'll be right back!" he said, going back into his house only to come back with a corgi under his arm. It was unusual, unconventional even, for wolves to have pets, especially canines.

"Why are you taking your dog with you?" Kyungsoo knew he sounded annoyed.

The man laughed. "He doesn't like to stay in the house during the day, and I won't let him run around the backyard unattended—there's no fence as you can see.” He gestured vaguely. “Have you called for a tow truck? Or maybe a friend?" 

"I—no, honestly, I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Kyungsoo said, starting to sound panicked instead of irritated. "I have no money, my car is fucking broken, it's the full moon, I don't have a place to sleep… I'm so sorry for bothering you—"

He felt like his feet were glued to the wooden floor on the porch—he wouldn't make it to the shelter. Kyungsoo was stuck, left without many options. He didn’t want to spend the full moon alone, terrified in the woods, desperately waiting for the sunrise. Not again, he couldn't let it happen again, no, no.

"No, please, don't apologize," Baekhyun said, gently putting his hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder and bringing him back to reality. "I can help you, okay? You're not bothering me. My friend is a mechanic, but he's not home today. We'll tow your car to his workshop and he'll take a look at it first thing tomorrow." 

Kyungsoo felt overwhelmed, he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "You're right." 

Baekhyun smiled at him as he led him to his car—a beaten-up Ford pickup truck. He put the dog on the backseat and fastened his seatbelt. "Are you from around here?"

"No," Kyungsoo said, opening the car door. "I was just passing by, but my engine gave up halfway through.”

Baekhyun's nostrils flared when he put the keys in, his expression turning dark—he knew.

Kyungsoo was used to similar reactions. "Your nose is not fooling you, I'm not a full wolf," he said flatly, already expecting what was going through the man's head. 

_Weak._

"Oh." Baekhyun shook his head. "That's not—"

"I get that a lot, don't even worry about it." Kyungsoo shrugged, feeling uncertain about Baekhyun. “My dad can shift into a malamute,” he added, immediately regretting voluntarily giving that information away. He didn’t want to impress anybody, especially not some random wolf he’d met a few minutes earlier. 

The man looked embarrassed but he kept his eyes glued to the road. “I really didn’t mean it like that, sorry. It’s none of my business.”

Kyungsoo nodded in acknowledgment. “You’re right about that.”

🌕🌕🌕

Kyungsoo stayed silent for the remainder of the ride, only petting Baekhyun’s dog on occasion. He was distrustful of Baekhyun, which made him feel awkward, which led to him shutting up and praying the other man wouldn’t try to strike up a conversation. His hopes were futile.

“I have a big garden, a pumpkin patch too,” Baekhyun tried to start small talk with Kyungsoo as he towed his car. "Honestly, it's more of a small farm." 

“Yeah, I saw it.” Kyungsoo continued petting Baekhyun’s dog—he felt more comfortable in the backseat than in the front.

The alpha sighed, Kyungsoo could see his resigned reflection through the rearview mirror, the green fields moving in the background. “I have a deal for you.”

Kyungsoo made eye-contact with him in the mirror.

“You’ll help me work in my garden today—one, honest day of work, and I’ll give you shelter for the next few days, does it sound good to you?” 

“Where’s the catch?” Nothing in life came for free, even kindness, especially for outcasts.

Baekhyun laughed, his eyes brightening-up. “You got me. I hate cucumbers, they’re the worst vegetable, but a few of my friends asked me to plant them in my garden. I just can’t bring myself to do it. That’s where you come in, you’ll plant these devil-seeds for me, maybe help me with the carrots and beans, deal?”

Kyungsoo realized that he really didn’t have any other options. Of course, he could decline, but then he wouldn’t have a place to stay, no pack to spend the full moon with, or even just company. He was running low on money too.

Being a lone wolf was starting to look increasingly difficult.

“Deal.”

🌕🌕🌕

"I know we've just met, but you seem grumpy?" Baekhyun asked as he looked up from the carrot patch, an old, straw hat on his head.

Working in the garden was pleasant, tiring, but also satisfying. He could see himself actually enjoying it if he wasn’t constantly on edge. Baekhyun’s presence was stressful, it made him aware of every passing minute, the time almost slowing down. The alpha was a stranger, they were alone and the nearest place he could hide in was the gas station.

A jolt went through his spine, Kyungsoo turned around to avoid looking at Baekhyun, his eyes focused on the patch of soil before him. _Shit_. "I'm a mutt, I'm not being grumpy, just defensive—"

"But why?"

Kyungsoo scoffed as he measured Baekhyun up. If the situation called for it he would have a chance to win a fight against him… Maybe... "Because I'm a mutt?" he repeated firmly. "It's not like we're welcome anywhere, we're forever deemed outcasts since our birth, stop acting like you don't know it." 

Baekhyun sighed, shaking his head, as he put his gloved hands on his hips, the soil clinging to the material of his pants. "I mean, I'm sadly aware of that. I may live in the middle of nowhere, but I have a TV—I read newspapers, I go to protests, I unironically have a Coexist bumper sticker... I know this doesn't mean anything, but I look like a stereotypical hippie too. I just don't understand what you are getting at—that's my point."

"No one's ever actually friendly towards me, especially purebred wolves like you. Maybe other cross-breeds, but there aren’t a lot of us. I’m just wondering what do you actually want from me?" Kyungsoo spat out. "Today's the full moon… does your pack need prey to chase through the woods? A little plaything for your entertainment? Do you think I would be able to run away from you? Probably not, I'm not as fast as a _real wolf_." 

Baekhyun looked shocked, maybe even appalled, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open—like a child learning about the atrocities committed in the name of their nation. "Why would someone do that… I mean—of course, purebreds would do something like that, but…" He threw the shovel on the ground and glanced at the cucumber seeds with even bigger disgust than before. "That's so fuckin' evil! Don't tell me someone did that to you?" he asked.

Kyungsoo had to restrain himself from laughing. "More than once."

"For Gods' sake, no wonder you're so distrustful. If I ever meet your pack I swear I'll eviscerate them!" Baekhyun continued his literal shovel-talk. "Seriously, I—"

"It's fine—"

"No! No, it's not fucking fine!" Baekhyun walked up to him and squeezed Kyungsoo's hand. "I promise you that's not what meant, not in the slightest.

"I'm not helpless, you know," Kyungsoo said defensively. "You don't have to save me from anyone, protect me from the world because I'm too weak to function properly. I know my place and it's not with the other wolves, I've always had to do everything alone—"

"And yet you had to come to a purebred for help," Baekhyun said, the look in his eyes betraying the fact that he regretted it immensely.

Kyungsoo scoffed. "If I had any choice, believe me, I wouldn't have." 

🌕🌕🌕

"There's wolfsbane on the edge of my property," Baekhyun said later that day as they sat on the porch, each with a glass of lemonade in hand.

"Why would you do that to yourself?" Kyungsoo chuckled, trying to relax

"So I don't get a brilliant idea to try to check up on the cabbages while I haven't transformed back. It'd happened and they got mercilessly squashed," Baekhyun laughed as he looked at Kyungsoo. "I'm sorry for getting so emotional earlier… It's not my place to get offended on your behalf. Sometimes I have a hard time accepting that there's so much injustice in the world. Getting raised by activists does that to you. But I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it." 

Kyungsoo squeezed the glass in his hands. "I still don't want to spend the full moon alone, if that's what you mean by this… I'm not brave enough—or rather, stupid enough. I've seen pups that were bigger than me when they transformed. I'm not helpless, but I'm not useful either." Kyungsoo took a sip of the sugary lemonade, it left his lips feeling sticky. "I wouldn't have survived in the wild."

"I don't think a lot of people, or wolves, would. That's not a character flaw," Baekhyun chuckled. "You're not useless, Soo," the nickname sounded awkward when said by him. "You've done a great job helping me today, thank you." 

Baekhyun's smile was the prettiest thing he'd seen in the last few weeks.

🌕🌕🌕

“You really do have a Coexist bumper sticker,” Kyungsoo remarked as he put the bag with his spare clothes in the trunk. He didn’t need much more for the full moon anyway.

Baekhyun had told him that his pack always gathered a few minutes away from a small stream nearby—that was where they were going. 

"I told you, I'm like a granola hippie." Baekhyun had kept his straw hat from before, the chilly wind kept on trying to knock it over his head.

"Do you run a commune too?"

The wolf laughed, his voice sounding like a bark. "No, but Minseok has accused me of that several times." 

"Who's Minseok?" Kyungsoo asked, resting his head on the rear window—he was tired, his legs feeling sore and his shin pulsing with a dull ache. "Is he the mechanic?"

"No,that's Chanyeol. He's also a wolf, half-wolf technically, but he shifts. Minseok's the neighborhood witch, well, one of them, at least."

“I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with all the different names, sorry.You’ll have to remind me every time I ask about something.”

Baekhyun smiled as he got into the car. “Don’t worry, I know you had a rough day, maybe even more than that,” he laughed awkwardly and didn’t say anything for the rest of the ride. 

Kyungsoo was thankful for the break—Baekhyun wasn’t exhausting to deal with, but he was certainly _a lot._ He had to make it till sunrise and something told him it was going to be challenging, even despite Baekhyun’s best intentions. Not trusting other wolves was his best survival tactic, something he’d learned early on in his life. And for that sole reason, Kyungsoo decided to shift while still in Baekhyun’s car.

“If anyone asks about me—I’m your younger cousin or something, I don’t give a shit,” he grumbled as he started taking off his clothes.

“Why?” Baekhyun looked at him with worry, his eyes wide.

“I’ve seen pups about my size,” Kyungsoo clarified reluctantly.

Surprisingly, no one asked about him when they arrived at the pack meeting. Sure, he’d gotten a few weird looks, a few sniffs from the fellow wolves; their nostrils flared wide, but it was expected—he was, after all, a stranger, a lone wolf invading their territory.

Baekhyun commanded everyone to shift when they were ready, the moon still low in the sky, barely peeking through the horizon line. There were four other wolves with them—Chanyeol, Jongin, Junmyeon, and Sehun. 

He wouldn’t have a chance with any of them in a fight, he would have to run and hope for the best.

Baekhyun was much bigger than him as a wolf, and his yellow eyes seemed to watch Kyungsoo intently. He was a head taller than Kyungsoo and about 40 pounds heavier, if he was estimating correctly—one of the biggest wolves he’d ever seen. Baekhyun towered over his pack, he effortlessly overshadowed everyone, made them seem insignificant in comparison.

Kyungsoo felt awkward—no, he was terrified. He had never regarded himself as an equal to the other wolves; he was a prey. There wasn’t much of a difference between him and a rabbit or a deer, only his intelligence and the ability to hide. It wouldn’t take a lot of effort for Baekhyun and the rest of the pack to hunt him down, only to easily rip out his throat.

Instead of attacking him, the alpha looked at him playfully, lowering his front paws and head with his tail swishing slowly behind him. Kyungsoo dropped his head even lower than Baekhyun, his nose touching the ground.

_Please, don’t… I’m scared._

Seeing Kyungsoo’s reaction, Baekhyun seemed disappointed, but he kept his distance, letting Kyungsoo stay back to calm himself down. 

Kyungsoo didn’t miss associating with other wolves, no one ever taught him how to act according to the social hierarchy. He didn't understand the little nuances—when someone was being friendly versus when they were mocking him. 

Kyungsoo was always doomed to be a lone wolf. 

🌕🌕🌕

For the rest of the night, Baekhyun tried to be friendly towards Kyungsoo, he really did, but Kyungsoo's reaction was always the same. He didn’t know how to play, no one had ever shown him.

Kyungsoo vividly remembered the first time he had spent the full moon with his old pack. He was five and smaller than the other pups, his ears floppy and his fur much fluffier. It made him stand out, and not in a good way. 

The pups wanted to try to hunt, pretend to be the grown-ups, and Kyungsoo was a prime target. They chased him through the woods, making him trip on the moss, his little paws still not used to running. He hid in a cave small enough that adults weren't able to pull him out until the sunrise.

Getting chased was the only way he knew how to play.

He’d stayed at the back, observing Chanyeol and Sehun chase each other through the thick woods. Baekhyun and Junmyeon hunt, trying to smell the rabbits or a deer. Even if he wanted to participate he couldn’t due to his leg injury, so he marched at his own pace, enjoying the warm night in solitude.

The forest was dead silent, the tall trees standing still, not succumbing to the light, summer wind that danced through Kyungsoo’s thick fur. He liked being alone, only in those moments he felt like he didn’t have to keep his guard up, like he could truly be himself.

Kyungsoo heard a loud crack in the distance and saw a figure tumbling down on the side of the nearest hill. It must’ve been one of the other wolves. Maybe Jongin—he deduced from the light coat. 

He carefully walked over to the younger wolf, fully expecting for him to lash out, stand up and start chasing him, or at least to muzzle grab him. Instead, Jongin just looked at him with panic and whimpered as he pointed at one of his legs. 

He was bleeding—at first glance the wound looked deep. 

_Fuck_ , Kyungsoo cursed in his head. He looked around but there were no Jongin’s pack mates in sight. Jongin whimpered again, hiding his tail and pleadingly looking at Kyungsoo. The sight of blood made him sick to his stomach, his mouth watering. He closed his eyes and ran away in the direction of where they left the cars, trying to stop himself from throwing up.

Kyungsoo’s shin was pulsing with sharp pain when he reached Baekhyun’s car, but there was no time for him to take a break longer than a few deep breaths. He prayed Baekhyun wouldn’t mind the scratch marks he left on the surface while trying to open the trunk with his clucky wolf-paws. Kyungsoo whined, the pain in his leg unbearable, fished out his backpack, the first aid kit, and just ran back to Jongin, trying not to think about the wound he had to dress. 

Before arriving by the hill he shifted into his human form yet again, feeling drained—he had done it three times in the past 24 hours. He didn’t expect to see Baekhyun, guarding Jongin and licking his nose in an attempt to calm him down.

“Don’t take anything I say personally—I hate the sight of blood, but I have to help you…” Kyungsoo looked at the younger wolf. “Fuck everything about this, seriously, fuck…” he groaned as he reached for the bottle of water to clean the wound and walked over to him, his legs shaky.

It didn’t look particularly deep, but there was a chance Jongin was going to need stitches. Kyungsoo took out the gauze from the first aid kit. He had also taken a bandana from Baekhyun’s car to tie it on Jongin's bleeding leg.

"I fucking hate this, I'm not a doctor, I don't know shit," Kyungsoo mumbled while tying a tight knot. "Why the fuck do I always end up patching someone up?"

After he was done with cleaning and bandaging the wound, Kyungsoo gave Jongin a painkiller, hoping it would still work on a wolf. 

He turned around and looked at Baekhyun.

“Do you—How long till you can transform back?”

Baekhyun pointed at the moon with his head, its silver face still high in the night sky.

“Shit… We’ll need to drive him to the hospital. Or rather, Chanyeol will, right? They are together, aren’t they?” Kyungsoo could smell Chanyeol on Jongin’s fur, but they weren’t mated. Weird.

Kyungsoo grew up in a rather traditional pack where unmated couples typically didn't live together, but this community seemed to work differently. Only Junmyeon and Sehun were mated and Baekhyun must've been single for a long time because Kyungsoo couldn't smell anyone on him. 

Alphas, even as informal as Baekhyun, usually were mated. Again, very weird.

If Baekhyun could, he would’ve probably shrugged.

“Okay? This doesn’t tell me anything. Would Chanyeol drive him to the hospital? Or no?”

Baekhyun nodded.

If Jongin smelled like distress and pain earlier, well, now he just smelled like he went through a bad break up right there. “Oh, it’s alright, don’t be sad,” Kyungsoo said as he stroked Jongin’s fur. “I can drive you to the hospital if you don’t want to see Chanyeol? It wouldn’t be a problem, I just assumed you’d like to see him.”

Jongin shook his head. Kyungsoo was getting tired of playing charades with the wolves. “Okay, we’ll wait for him here then."

🌕🌕🌕

Baekhyun howled, his head pointed proudly towards the moon, its silver light illuminating his tan fur. As he shifted, he seemed to be in pain, his expression twisting and eyes closed shut. Kyungsoo felt uncomfortable as he watched him shrink in size, Baekhyun wasn’t petite, but it almost seemed like it now. His wolf was much bigger than Kyungsoo had ever seen. 

The alpha looked up at him, a wide smile adorning his face. 

“Here are your clothes,” Kyungsoo said, trying his best not to stare at Baekhyun, his naked body on display. He didn’t even try to cover up, instead, it seemed like he _wanted_ Kyungsoo to take a look at him. Was he an exhibitionist or something?

“Do you have my car keys?” he asked as he dressed up before Kyungsoo, still not trying to cover anything.

It took him a moment to realize Baekhyun had asked a question. “Uhm—yes, yes, here you go. Are we driving Jongin to the hospital?”

“No, we don’t have time,” Baekhyun clarified. “But Minseok doesn’t live that far. Jongin, don’t shift, we’ll get Min and he’ll take care of you, alright?”

Jongin nodded in acknowledgment. 

Kyungsoo had never experienced real fear before sitting in the passenger seat of Baekhyun’s car while he was going 80 on a dirt road, as he sang along to a pop song with lyrics about crashing into a bridge. 

Minseok came out of his house fully dressed and with a travel-sized bag in his hand. “I told you you shouldn’t bother me during the full moon, I have my own stuff to do,” he grumbled as he got into the backseat.

“Jongin’s injured,” Kyungsoo said defensively.

“Yeah, I know, I’m just being grumpy.” Minseok smiled at him. “Did you move here? I haven’t seen you around.”

“I’m only staying the night… my car broke down and I didn’t have many options left,” Kyungsoo explained.

“Oh, good thing our pack took care of you then.”

He saw Baekhyun smile. “Buckle up, Min. I don’t want Chanyeol to yell at me for making Jongin wait,” he said as he started the car.

“He’s gonna do it anyway,” Minseok laughed. “You could teleport me there and Chan would get upset because Jongin’s hurt. How did this happen anyway?”

“I think he slipped while running up the hill? I don’t know, I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t at the back thanks to—” Kyungsoo stopped himself from mentioning his injured leg. He instinctively touched his shin. “In short, I didn’t see what happened, but I was the one to patch him up.”

“Good, I’ll see what I can do. I’m neither a doctor nor a healer, but I can perform basic healing spells. That should be enough until Jongin can see a medical professional,” Minseok seemed to think out loud. ”Unless it’s really bad.”

“I don’t think he needs stitches,” Kyungsoo said. “But I have even less credentials than you so I might be wrong.”

“I told him not to shift,” Baekhyun cut in. “For a wolf his size it’s not a significant injury, can’t say the same about his human form. We need to get there and perform a spell before the moon sets."

Kyungsoo was taken aback by Baekhyun’s words, he finally understood why he was driving so fast. He actually cared about his pack members—he didn’t shame Jongin for being _weak_ , he wanted to help him recover as fast as possible and in the least painful way. That was what alphas were for, Kyungsoo realized, that was what they always should be.

🌕🌕🌕

Minseok was a talented witch even despite his words. He performed a quick but effective spell that made Jongin’s wound entirely stop bleeding.

“You’ll have to be careful from now on,” he said as the younger wolf started shifting. “Stay in bed for a few days, you’ll heal quicker but you’ll be constantly very tired. So don’t push yourself, alright?” 

“Thank you,” Jongin said, his voice still rough after shifting so suddenly. Kyungsoo gave him his clothes.

“Where’s Chanyeol, anyway?” he asked.

“I think—”

“The fuck happened,” Kyungsoo heard someone with a deep, rumbly voice say.

Baekhyun nodded his head. “There he is.”

“Baek, can you tell me what is going on?” 

“Jongin injured himself, I don’t know the details—you should ask him yourself,” Kyungsoo explained, his voice shaky. Chanyeol was even more intimidating than Baekhyun, maybe it was the height difference.

The half-wolf smiled, his expression getting softer by the second. “Thank you,” he said, putting his hand on Kyungsoo’s arm.

“For what?”

“For helping my future mate?”

The longer Kyungsoo interacted with this pack, the more confused he grew. He looked at Baekhyun, fully expecting someone to laugh at him—no one did, which weirded him out even more.

“That’s my responsibility?”

“No, it’s not?” Jongin cut in. “You’re a stranger, and you’re scared of blood? I mean, of course, I’m thankful you helped me, but you could’ve just called Baekhyun or Junmyeon. Again, I’m saying this because I’ve seen how you reacted to seeing that I’m bleeding.”

“Kyungsoo, what are your responsibilities in your pack?” Baekhyun put his hand on his shoulder.

“No one made me do it, it’s not like I was ever _forced_ , but my pack was really shitty about caring for the sick or injured wolves. I just—I always somehow end up patching people up, ever since I was a kid,” Kyungsoo explained. “That’s why I said it is my responsibility, because I feel like it is. You don’t have to overreact.” He felt embarrassed by Baekhyun's reaction, his cheeks getting hot.

Baekhyun looked down. “Sorry, but from what you’ve told me about your pack, they sound really shitty." 

"Believe me, you've heard nothing yet."

🌕🌕🌕

“Are you a witch?” Junmyeon asked in the early morning as they sat on Baekhyun’s porch.

Chanyeol drove Jongin home a few hours before, but Junmyeon and his mate stayed at Baekhyun’s house—they lived the closest to him, barely a few minutes walk.

“I used to work at an herbal shop, but I don’t think it counts.” Kyungsoo shrugged, his back leaning on one of the rails. “No, my dad’s a shapeshifter, I’m not a full wolf, that’s all.” He hated that his dad’s powers were the most interesting thing about him. “But witches are cool, I wish I knew some simple protection or healing spells.”

“Ah, that’s why you’re not as affected by the full moon… Thank you for changing back and helping Jongin.” Junmyeon smiled. “You’re a stranger, but you treated him like he was from your pack.”

“I don’t have a pack anymore,” Kyungsoo confessed, painfully aware that Baekhyun was listening to their conversation. “Frankly, I don’t think I'm suited for one.”

He was a loner, besides, he didn't want to associate with wolves who automatically assumed they were better than him. 

“Minseok and his small _coven_ live nearby. I need to drop off some sage at their place,” Baekhyun said suddenly. “So if you’re interested in spells… Well, I’m sure they’d teach you if asked them.”

“Why did you say coven like that?” Kyungsoo wanted him to clarify. 

“I’m not saying that they aren’t a legit coven, but they are also fucking. All three of them. The whole house smells like a sex dungeon to me." Baekhyun's laugh sounded like a bark. 

“For someone who accuses you of running a commune, Minseok really seems to enjoy the whole free love thing, huh,” Kyungsoo stated, referencing what Baekhyun had told earlier that night.

“That’s what I’ve been saying for years!” he screamed, waking Sehun up in the process. "Sorry."

"'s fine," Sehun mumbled and put the thin blanket over his head.

Kyungsoo was starting to feel exhausted too, the last couple of days catching up to him, he put his head on Baekhyun's shoulder, only to fall asleep to the sound of wind chimes a few minutes later.

🌕🌕🌕

Kyungsoo borrowed Baekhyun’s bike to drive to Chanyeol’s workshop. The garage was filled with various bottles of grease, engine coolant, and oil. It was also extremely disorganised, random car parts laying around on the dusty, concrete floor.

“Okay,” Chanyeol said upon opening the hood. “Tell me exactly what happened and what you did. I heard it wouldn’t start.”

Kyungsoo looked at the half-wolf, his brows raised. “Nothing really, the oil light turned on a day or two ago even though I’m sure I had a good amount left, is it bad? ”

Chanyeol clicked his tongue, his expression didn’t reassure Kyungsoo even a bit. “Well, if you have an oil leak it’s possible you seized your engine, or just broke it in some other way—there’s a lot of things that could have gone wrong. Is there a click when you try to start it?”

Kyungsoo nodded.

“Yeah, this car sounds pretty dead from what you’re telling me. I’m sorry, but you’ll probably have to get a new one if you want to continue your trip.”

“So I’m stranded here? Without a means of transportation and money?” Kyungsoo growled.

Chanyeol didn’t seem impressed by his theatrics. “I’m sure Baek would help you if you asked him directly, he seems to… Actually, forget I said that.” He waved his hand as he turned around. “Thank you for helping Jongin last night, he’s doing much better now.”

“I—I was just doing what I could, that’s what I always do,” he said, looking at the half-wolf, hoping _he_ would understand him. 

“Are you a doctor or something?”

“Do I look like a doctor?” Kyungsoo laughed. “No, I just—I always ended up doing the dirty work, that’s how my former pack worked.”

Chanyeol quirked an eyebrow at him. “Then I’m glad you left them then, because that sounds shitty.”

🌖🌖🌖

He liked working in Baekhyun’s garden, it brought him peace. Weeding the vegetable beds was calming; hard on his knees, but pleasant nonetheless. Kyungsoo figured out it didn’t hurt to help Baekhyun if he were to stay here for a few days more—until he figured out what he should do.

"Hypothetically speaking, if you transformed like right now, and I threw you a stick, would you fetch it?" Baekhyun joked as he kneeled next to him.

"I'm not a dog," Kyungsoo scoffed. "Don't ever insinuate that." He almost felt insulted.

Baekhyun's dumb grin lessened. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry, it was a dumb joke. I'm really sorry," he stumbled over his words, sounding apologetic. "It's just—most wolves can't transform at will. Hell, I don't know anyone that can. I’ve heard rumors, sure, but I’ve never seen someone transform if it wasn’t the full moon."

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrows, Baekhyun was an alpha—shouldn't he be able to shift when he wanted? "You can't? Even Chanyeol? He's half-human, isn't he?"

Baekhyun shook his head. "I genuinely don't know anyone, Soo. Is there someone in your pack that can?"

"Not really? I mean—I don't know? I need you to understand that I was really alienated from basically anyone but the relatives on my mom’s side... I figured out it wasn't common but I guess it's actually pretty rare." 

Baekhyun laughed. "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. _Look at me, I can transform whenever I want—even change back during the full moon! But I'm no one interesting, just some mutt_ ," Baekhyun mocked Kyungsoo's tone of voice with a grin on his lips.

"But it's true, that's what people think of me," Kyungsoo said looking down.

"First off, I don't," Baekhyun stated, his gaze drilling into Kyungsoo's profile. "I think you're pretty interesting. Second, even if—why do you care so much what others think of you?" 

Kyungsoo scoffed, that seemed like such an obvious question. "Because that's what will ultimately become of us, Baek. What we leave behind is a stash of bones and the stories people tell of us, that's all we are in the end. And I'm no one exceptional, I’m laughable at most." 

"You forgot about magic," Baekhyun added. "We also leave a pinch of ourselves wherever we live—magic of some kind." He smiled at Kyungsoo. "I believe in it even though I’m not a witch. I was born in this house, and I will probably die here too. What will become of me is this herb garden, my pumpkin patch, and a stash of bones like you said. The rest doesn't concern me, I won't be there to hear it," the sincerity in his voice jumped out to Kyungsoo. "You need to find your own pumpkin patch—something that makes you so happy you don’t care about others judging you."

He'd never heard someone talk about death with such optimistic indifference.

"I'm guessing the pumpkins are a metaphor?" 

"Obviously, I'm not looking for competition."

🌖🌖🌖

The rainstorm outside made Kyungsoo shake in fear, he was hiding under the bed, his whole body squeezed next to a box with Baekhyun’s trinkets. He sneezed before the next thunderclap, the dust that had gathered on the floor irritating his nose.

Kyungsoo laid his ears flat against his head, hoping he could drown out the sound of thunder.

“Soo, where are you?” he heard Baekhyun say from the hallway. “Soo?”

Kyungsoo whined from under the bed, letting the other wolf know where he was. This was humiliating—he fully expected Baekhyun to laugh at him, to mock him for being terrified of such a trivial thing.

"Hey, I'm not the biggest fan of thunderstorms either," Baekhyun assured him gently as he laid on the floor and reached out his hand to touch Kyungsoo’s paw. "Come out, please, it's gonna be less scary that way." 

Kyungsoo yelped and started crawling from under the bed. At that moment he felt even smaller next to Baekhyun than usual.

"Can you transform? I promise that human ears are so much less sensitive, you're gonna be able to relax, okay?" Baekhyun took a blanket and laid it on top of Kyungsoo to give him some privacy. “Everything’s gonna be fine, alright?” he said softly.

Kyungsoo focused on transforming into his human form, he visualized his body changing, evened his breath, and tried to change as quickly as possible.

“Where are your clothes?”

“In the bathroom…” Kyungsoo said when his vocal cords finally decided to cooperate. He counted the seconds between the lighting and the thunderbolt; five seconds.

“Why did you leave them there?” Baekhyun threw the clothes at Kyungsoo’s head as he chuckled at his confused expression.

“I—I like to sleep as a wolf?” Kyungsoo confessed. “I don’t know… I couldn’t fall asleep in your house and this is the only way I know how to force myself to sleep…” 

“Oh.” Baekhyun frowned. “Do you want to sleep in my bed? I know it helps some people—besides the thunderstorm won’t go away for some time.”

Kyungsoo wanted to tell Baekhyun to leave it be, and he probably would have done it if he weren’t terrified. The alpha was too forward and too confident for Kyungsoo to feel fully comfortable. But ultimately, it wasn’t Baekhyun’s fault, he couldn’t possibly know everything about Kyungsoo. “Okay…” he said standing up to put on his pajama pants, the blanket still resting on his shoulders.

Baekhyun looked flustered. “I thought you would’ve said no,” he laughed.

“I mean, I don’t have to? You proposed it, that’s all,” Kyungsoo said a bit defensively. He never liked being led on.

"No! Please, I miss cuddling, I'm so touch starved and you're really cute," he laughed again, smiling at Kyungsoo without showing his teeth.

"You think I'm cute?" Kyungsoo didn't think anyone had ever called him that. It was always quiet, occasionally mysterious or scary, never cute.

"Or handsome, beautiful even, if you prefer that." Baekhyun’s smile widened. "Gods, I sound so awkward…" He groaned as he laid his head on the doorframe. "I can't flirt when I'm sleepy."

"I won't deny that," Kyungsoo said, feeling his cheeks get warm. "You're cute too… I just—I feel so out of place hearing this from a fellow wolf?"

"Why?"

Kyungsoo's laugh got disrupted by the sound of thunder. "Because no purebred wolf was ever interested in me? Hell—it was suspicious when they were nice to me." He held on to the blanket that kept slipping from his shoulders.

Baekhyun looked like he learned that Santa wasn't real, his mouth hanging slightly open. "Gods, I hate your pack," he said, taking Kyungsoo's hand and led him to the other bedroom situated on the same floor. 

The ceiling was slanted, just like in Kyungsoo’s room. There were fairy lights, alongside with a tapestry, hanging next to a window and over the queen-size bed standing by it. The whole room was decorated with various plants, crystals, rocks, and glass figurines. Kyungsoo felt like he was stepping into a dragon’s den.

"Me too, don't worry. That’s why I left," Kyungsoo laughed, burying his face in the fluffy pillows. He ran his fingers through Baekhyun's hair. "This might sound dumb, but… you really only want to cuddle?" 

Baekhyun chuckled. "Yes, I don't have an ulterior motive. Do you?" 

"Maybe not today, I'm too anxious. But I'm open to different possibilities in the future, you know like spooning, and you falling asleep with your head on my chest, hardcore stuff like that." 

"Okay, so when you're grumpy it's a defense mechanism, gotcha," Baekhyun said, sounding triumphant. "I thought you just really didn't like me." 

"I mean—at the very beginning, I wasn't a fan of yours. Nothing personal, purebred wolves scare the shit out of me. Almost as much as storms," Kyungsoo mumbled into the pillow, trying to keep his heartbeat steady as Baekhyun was holding him tight and the storm raged outside.

"I'm scared of them too."

Kyungsoo couldn't bring himself to believe him. “Stop trying to make me feel better.”

“I’m not lying, Soo. Why would I lie about something so embarrassing? I’m an adult, I’ve been afraid of thunderstorms since I was a little kid,” he confessed. “We can stay up all night, talk, watch a movie—whatever you want. I’m not going to sleep either way.”

🌖🌖🌖

Kyungsoo melted into Baekhyun’s touch as he hugged him from behind. They waited for the microwave popcorn to pop, the storm still raging outside.

“I never thought alphas could be so… affectionate, I guess,” he remarked, letting Baekhyun put his chin on his shoulder.

“I’m not an alpha though?”

Kyungsoo felt like someone punched him in the face, his assumptions shattering. “You aren’t? Then who is? You’re the strongest out of the pack…”

“Junmyeon… Who else? He’s the only one with a mate, at least currently. But that probably won’t change with… Chanyeol and Jongin finally getting together. Wait you really thought I was an alpha?” he laughed.

“You probably would be in my _former_ pack,” Kyungsoo emphasized the adjective. 

“Why did you leave?” Baekhyun asked as he went to get the popcorn and put it into a big bowl, the unpopped kernels making a sound akin to a rattle.

“I don’t want to talk about it…”

Baekhyun looked at him intently, his eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed into a thin line. A lighting bolt illuminated the sky. “Were you mistreated?”

He scoffed. “I was sick of wolves that abused their position in the hierarchy, who thought they were better than me—that’s all. I might have overreacted, sure, but I got fed up with being treated worse than an actual dog for literally years. Yes, I was mistreated,” Kyungsoo growled, his fists clenched.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up,” Baekhyun sounded apologetic. “I shouldn’t have—”

“No, it’s fine, it’s just a fresh wound.” Kyungsoo took a deep breath. “I’ll get over it someday…”

Baekhyun hugged him again, his arms tightly enveloped around Kyungsoo’s chest. “Saying _I’m sorry_ doesn’t feel like enough, because no one should experience something like this. It’s fine if you’re angry, Soo, don’t bottle up your feelings. You can scream if you want, the forest will listen, I’ll listen.”

“I’m not that dramatic,” he chuckled, burrowing his face into Baekhyun’s hoodie. “What movie are we watching?”

“You can choose,” he said, a smile audible in his voice. 

Kyungsoo woke up several hours later with Baekhyun’s legs draped over him and Mongryong sleeping on the armchair next to them. The storm had subsided in the meantime. 

🌖🌖🌖

Baekhyun’s french toast was the best thing Kyungsoo had eaten in the last couple of days.

“The secret ingredient is nutmeg. And love,” he said with a wink, making Kyungsoo groan.

The view from the front porch in the early morning was eternal, the sun peeking through the tall trees, its rays contrasting with the dark, stormy clouds still on the horizon. Kyungsoo took a deep breath, enjoying the chilly air.

"I find it weird—or tragic, that I actually used to be the kind of wolf you despise," Baekhyun laughed awkwardly as he scratched his nape. He was sitting on a rocking chair, his cup of coffee situated between his knees, the liquid almost spilling over. 

Kyungsoo grimaced. "What do you mean?"

"You know the kids that come from very liberal or leftist families that go through a light conservative phase? Yeah, uhm, I used to be that kid. I mean—I'm not proud of it, but it happened."

Kyungsoo looked at him bewildered. "Wow, that's quite a change of character."

"Yeah, I just—I feel uncomfortable not disclosing that to you. If you met me a few years ago… I'd be exactly the kind of wolf you tell me you avoid. I was a very dickish alpha who believed in the strict social hierarchy," he sighed.

"Baekhyun… I—I don't especially like it, but people move on. You're not the same person you were a few years ago, and pretending that you are—well, it won't do you any good, that's for sure," Kyungsoo said, not knowing what Baekhyun wanted from him.

"No, I know, believe me. I don't want forgiveness from you, nor anything close to it. I'm not like one of those dudes who says they finally understood feminism when their daughter was born. You weren't a cure to my ignorance, Soo, don't worry about it. I just—I wanted to come clean," Baekhyun said turning around. "Because I think my prejudices were based on my insecurities. And I've done enough thinking about "

Kyungsoo nodded. "I used to be so proud that I'm half-wolf… But in the end, I was dismissing my dad's heritage, nothing else."

"I think you're so strong, Soo. And skilled, and beautiful, and kind despite what the world expected from you, I—"

"But you're too, Baek," Kyungsoo used the nickname for the first time. "Not everyone realizes their mistakes—bad people don't lose nights wondering whether they are doing the right thing… And you seem like a person who has done exactly that." 

Sometimes the kindest people were the ones who realized they were once cruel. 

Baekhyun laughed. "I hope."

"What made you change your mind?" 

"Before my parents bought a second house, and I moved here, I used to live in the town nearby. The pack there was bigger, really fucking disorganized and they wanted an alpha that would help them get their shit together. Needless to say—I'm not that kind of wolf," he laughed trying to mask his embarrassment.

"Is that why Junmyeon's the alpha instead?"

"Pretty much. I can't handle the pressure that comes with ordering a bunch of wolves around. I felt inadequate and projected my insecurities onto the wolves lower in the hierarchy," Baekhyun touched one of the wind chimes, making the little bells sing one by one.

"It explains why you were so awkward when we first met," Kyungsoo said looking at the chime. "It must've felt weird to actually meet a mutt, someone at the bottom of the hierarchy."

Baekhyun's laugh reminded him of the bells. "I don't like it when you call yourself _that_ word _..._ It's probably not my place to tell you that, I just feel bad for some reason."

"I don't mean it in a self-deprecating way—if I call myself that it holds no power when someone is trying to hurt me with this word. I'm a wolf, but I'm also a mutt, it's fine—too many people have tried to convince me that it's actually bad," Kyungsoo reminisced. "Okay, maybe I'm trying to be a little self-deprecating." He gestured vaguely with his hands.

"You know why I was so awkward when we first met?" Baekhyun asked. "You smell the same way my garden does after it rains all night. Like it smells right now."

"Yeah, my smell has been compared to a wet dog before. You aren't that original," Kyungsoo chuckled and took a sip of his herbal tea, the taste of mint faint on his tongue.

"You don't get it." Baekhyun looked up at the cloudy sky. "I love rain, but not the gentle, boring drizzles—the violent storms with howling winds. I’m scared of them, but they’re mesmerizing. You smell the same way the grass does after it rains all night—like ozone and early-morning sunshine.”

“You sound so fucking corny,” Kyungsoo laughed at him. While he appreciated Baekhyun’s sincerity, he felt too vulnerable to admit that he was flattered. 

“Maybe, but I’m telling the truth. That’s how you smell to me.”

Kyungsoo took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. “And you smell like—like strawberry candy that has melted in the sun a bit.”

Baekhyun laughed. “That’s so weirdly specific—I love it! I’ve definitely gotten strawberry before, but the detail about melting is news to me.” He seemed so pleased with the way Kyungsoo had described his smell. 

“My grandparents used to live with us when I was younger. They kept a bowl with strawberry Jolly Ranchers in their room—”

“So I smell like a dusty, half-melted, Jolly Rancher to you? Well, at least you didn’t describe it as a strawberry flavored condom just like Chanyeol did once, I swear, it made me self-conscious for like a week,” Baekhyun reminisced.

“About Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo began, feeling that he shouldn’t ask anything about the man, “what’s up with him and Jongin? I could smell that they are together, but they aren’t mated… I don’t want to sound like a pearl-clutching conservative, it’s really not my place to judge, but Jongin seemed beaten-down when I said to call Chanyeol when he injured himself…” 

Baekhyun shook his head and took a sip of his drink, his expression unreadable. “I don’t know either. For a while, everything seemed fine between the two of them… But frankly, I think Chanyeol doesn’t understand how mating even works—I don’t think anyone has attempted to explain it to him. He lived with his father for most of his life—it’s his mom who’s a wolf. As much as I love witches, they don’t know everything about us.”

“I mean—I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to both witches and wolves…” Kyungsoo confessed. “Someone gave enough of a fuck to give me adequate sex ed, but besides that? Yikes.”

“What do you mean?” Baekhyun tilted his head.

“For example, I know how courtship works with quote-unquote, normal wolves, I don’t fucking know how I fit into the tradition? No wolf has ever pursued me, I’ve only been with witches or fellow shapeshifters. Seriously, do you… go on dates? Fuck in the woods during the full moon, I—”

“Man, this explains a lot,” Baekhyun laughed, his voice sounding melodious as always. “I’m courting you, Soo.”

Kyungsoo almost spilled the tea onto his pants. “Uh—wait, how?” he asked, looking at Baekhyun’s amused face. “How does that even work?”

“I cook for you—”

“Because you wake up at five am, I’d do it for you as well if I could wake up that early.”

Baekhyun looked like he was starting to get annoyed. “I compliment you, I let you sleep in my bed, plant flowers in my garden, wear my clothes—I’m really territorial, alright? Once, I chased Sehun to his house because he stole a shirt from my laundry line.”

“But that’s different… I thought you were just being kind—I didn’t think you had an ulterior motive.” Kyungsoo furrowed his brows. He felt a bit cheated, he really thought a wolf thought of him as an equal, not as a prize to be won. 

The corners of Baekhyun’s mouth dropped. “I don’t, I thought you enjoyed it, but now I see that you didn’t know what I was doing… I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable—it was unfair towards you.” He stood up from the chair. “I’m gonna make some more coffee…”

Kyungsoo got up from his chair as well. “Wait—I don’t mind you courting me! It’s just—I’ve never been pursued, never in my fucking life. I don’t mind, really, I simply want you to treat me as your equal. If you’re courting me, then I want to court you too.” He stepped up to Baekhyun.

The wolf looked down. “You shouldn’t feel obligated—”

“Believe me, I don’t, I just really like you.” Kyungsoo touched his cheek, Baekhyun’s skin feeling soft. “And you really do smell like Jolly Ranchers.”

“Maybe I taste like them as well,” Baekhyun laughed. 

“You need to remember—the fact that you’re pretty, doesn’t mean you aren't corny, it doesn't work like that."

🌗🌗🌗

Kyungsoo sneaked into Baekhyun’s bedroom.

“I left my blanket here…” he told Baekhyun as he sat on the bed, watching the other wolf get ready for bed in the en suite bathroom.

“Sure, no ulterior motive? Not even a little?” he laughed as he washed his teeth, the white foam dripping into the sink.

Kyungsoo laid down, spreading his arms on the duvet. “Maybe? Is it how courting works? Because if it is—sure.”


	2. Chapter 2

Baekhyun joined him on the bed, their shoulders touching, he reached and touched Kyungsoo’s jaw, bringing his mouth closer.

“Can I?”

“Please.”

He smiled before their lips touched. Baekhyun was a good kisser, he didn’t shove his tongue right into Kyungsoo’s mouth; he started slow, delicate. He didn’t rush anything, and it was driving Kyungsoo absolutely insane. He rolled over, pinning Baekhyun down, his hands resting on his shoulders.

Kyungsoo looked up at him. "Could—I mean, fuck, that's a bad idea…"

"What's a _bad idea_? Tell me," Baekhyun said into his ear, his breath tickling Kyungsoo.

"I want to top you." There was no point in being subtle.

Baekhyun's eyes sparkled. "That sounds like an excellent idea to me! But you look hesitant…"

"My ex never let me, even though I repeatedly asked him. He also didn't like seeing my face when we fucked—but his issues are its own can of worms."

"Why would he do that, I—"

"Honestly, I just think he liked to imagine he was doing it with someone else," Kyungsoo laughed bitterly. "Sometimes I feel like a sentient doormat, I let people walk over me however they please."

"Nooo," Baekhyun moaned, laying his head on Kyungsoo's chest. "It sounds like you were taught to just take what people give you… And most people are dicks." He sighed, looking defeated. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to be your savior… I like you, but if you don't feel comfortable doing anything with me—it's fine. Don’t force yourself, Soo."

Kyungsoo shook his head. "No, don't worry—I can't wait to hear you beg," he said into Baekhyun's ear, only to immediately cringe. Dirty talk was never his strong suit. 

Baekhyun smiled as he took Kyungsoo's hand and guided it to the band of his boxers. "I certainly want to see you try."

Kyungsoo felt his cheeks heat up—it's been too long since the last time he even wanted to have sex with someone, and Baekhyun's eagerness wasn't helping.

"Do you want me to guide you? Tell you where you should touch me?" he chuckled, baring his neck and arching his back, completely exposing himself. 

"I wouldn't mind a tutorial—yes," Kyungsoo deadpanned.

Baekhyun's smile grew wider, which made him look even more like a wolf, his sharp canines glinting in the dim light. He gently grabbed Kyungsoo by his short hair. "Kiss me, you can mark me if you want to."

To Kyungsoo's surprise, Baekhyun not only smelled like fresh strawberries, he also, faintly, tasted of them. And his tan skin felt smooth under Kyungsoo's fingertips. He rolled down his underwear and tossed it aside.

"You taste like strawberries."

"I can assure you that you don't taste like rainwater," Baekhyun laughed.

"I hope so," Kyungsoo said, peppering kisses on Baekhyun's chest and sinking further towards his parted legs.

"Can I touch your hair?" Baekhyun reached his hand down.

"Just don't be rough… My gag reflex is shit and I don't want you to think that your dick is so perfect it made me cry."

Baekhyun snorted. "Shouldn't that be your job tonight?"

“You’re overestimating my abilities for sure,” he laughed awkwardly before attempting to take the tip of Baekhyun’s cock into his mouth. Kyungsoo sucked at the head and lapped his tongue, enjoying the little sounds he managed to draw from Baekhyun. He kept his right hand at the base as he lowered his mouth, Baekhyun already fisting his hair. 

Kyungsoo kept the pace for a while, bobbing his head until his jaw started to ache. He looked up at Baekhyun, his expression blissful. 

“Where do you keep lube?” he asked, his voice raspy.

“Nightstand, first drawer,” Baekhyun said, baring his neck, almost as if he was inviting Kyungsoo to mark him. 

Before he gave in, Kyungsoo kissed Baekhyun on the lips, making sure he could taste himself on his tongue. He carefully chose where to mark Baekhyun’s collarbones, it was low enough that he could cover it up with a collar.

Kyungsoo reached into the drawer, his hand touching something cold and smooth.

“I see you’re… self-sufficient,” he laughed as he lifted Baekhyun’s metal buttplug.

“I kinda have to be? What are my options, Soo? Joining Minseok’s harem? I like him, but not like _that_ ,” the whiny tone of his voice made Kyungsoo laugh even harder. 

He reached for a second pillow and put it under Baekhyun’s hips. “Then you must be glad I found you.”

Baekhyun grinned as he reached into the drawer. “You can’t even imagine.” He handed Kyungsoo a packet of lube. “Don’t make me wait,” there was a tinge of excitement in his voice.

Kyungsoo ripped the packet with his teeth, the clear liquid running down the packaging, he coated his fingers, letting the lube warm up. Baekhyun bucked his hips when he inserted the first finger, letting him adjust to the stretch. It didn’t take long before he added another. Kyungsoo moved slowly at first, carefully taking his time to thoroughly prep Baekhyun. 

“Don’t be shy, it’s enough,” Baekhyun said, his voice low.

“This is our first time. Of course, I’m shy,” he grumbled, reaching for the box of tissues and the condoms laying on the nightstand. 

Baekhyun laughed. “I certainly hope it’s not the last.”

“It might be if you don’t stop talking.” Kyungsoo put on the condom, flipping it at least two times before getting it right. Condoms were the USB drives of sex, he somehow always managed to put them incorrectly the first time. 

“You don’t like people who are talkative in bed? Tough luck, I never shut up.”

He braced himself before slipping into Baekhyun. “I’ve noticed, you even talk in your sleep.”

The wolf’s breath hitched as he closed his eyes. “Gimme a second.” In an attempt to provide a distraction, Kyungsoo kissed him deeply, his hand fisting Baekhyun’s hair. “Okay, it’s okay, you can move.” 

He hesitated before thrusting for the first time, making sure his movements were gentle. Baekhyun wrapped his legs around Kyungsoo’s waist.

“Are you trying to trap me? I’m not going anywhere, not when we got this far,” he laughed, still unsure whether he should treat Baekhyun like he was made of glass or just go for it.

“No, I’m encouraging you to take me for a ride, I’m already buckled up.”

“Am I so awkward that I need encouragement?”

“A tiny bit,” the last word came out as a moan when Kyungsoo slammed into him. “That’s the spirit!” he laughed.

Kyungsoo couldn’t decide whether hooking up with Baekhyun was the best or—no, it definitely was the best decision he made in recent times. He picked up the pace, his muscles tensing. Baekhyun grinned at him, sweat dripping down his face and accentuating his blushed cheeks covered in freckles. He tangled his hands in Kyungsoo’s hair, drawing him close enough that their foreheads were touching.

“Help yourself, baby, you can just use me,” he rasped out.

Kyungsoo’s breath hitched. “Can I?”

Baekhyun kissed him on the forehead. “Go ahead.”

He started pounding into Baekhyun, chasing his own pleasure, and getting closer and closer by the second, his head burrowed in the crook of Baekhyun’s neck. His release came without warning, washing over him in waves and leaving Kyungsoo oversensitive.

“Don’t forget about me, baby,” Baekhyun said right into his ear.

Hearing Baekhyun moan as he brought him to completion was one of the prettiest sounds he’d heard in a while.

🌘🌘🌘

_Two weeks before_

Kyungsoo's spit was bloody. He hoped his teeth were intact.

"Are you done?" The question rang in his ears. "Get the fuck out of here!"

"Fuck you," he muttered as he swung his fist again, trying to hit the man's nose; he succeeded. "Fuck you and the rest of this pack." 

The alpha kicked his shin, making Kyungsoo lose his focus. 

_Son of a bitch_ —a jolt went through his entire leg.

He felt his head hit the ground, his skull bouncing back from the tiles of the locker room, the alpha looming over him and pressing his body down. "Do you think you can get away with questioning the authority?” The blood from his nose dripped onto Kyungsoo’s face.

“There’s nothing to question—the pack’s disorganized. New wolves are scared to join us because of our reputation,” he scoffed.

“Maybe it’s because of _mutts_ like you. We’ve gotten too weak.”

Kyungsoo laughed as he tried to roll the alpha onto his side—just a few centimeters would give him an advantage. He visualized his body changing, his limbs shrinking and teeth growing, his skin covering with a thick layer of protective fur.

He wasn’t weak. 

Getting out of his clothes was always the worst part, he felt like his shirt was suffocating him, restricting his every move. 

The alpha whined when Kyungsoo’s teeth sunk into his shoulder. He growled at the older wolf, baring his blood-stained teeth; the metallic taste in his mouth making him feel sick.

_He wasn’t weak._

“Get the fucking muzzle!” Kyungsoo heard behind him as he ran out of the locker room.

🌘🌘🌘

“I left my pack because, and I’m quoting directly here, _I was getting violent_ ,” Kyungsoo said as he chewed his strawberry jam toast the next morning. "Someone even said I was going feral," he laughed at the absurdity of the statement.

“ _You_ ?” Baekhyun screeched as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “ _You_ were getting violent, not the assholes that chased you through the woods when you were younger? Or the wolves that excluded you from different traditions? _You_?”

“Well, I did bite the head alpha,” Kyungsoo said with a smirk on his lips, “because he called me weak.”

“During a full moon?” Baekhyun looked concerned.

Kyungsoo laughed. “I’m impulsive, not suicidal, don’t worry. No, it was like two weeks after. We had a council meeting and I got annoyed with everyone ignoring suggestions made by the younger wolves. My former pack had a PR problem, let’s say, every year we were losing members—we needed to form an alliance. Every young wolf agreed on that, but we were silenced. I asked the head alpha to talk to me privately…”

“That never ends well…” Baekhyun cut in, seeming even more agitated than before. His knuckles were turning white.

“Yeah, you’re right, considering that he punched me first. I bit him in self-defense, and after we calmed down he told me that if I wanted to stay with the pack I’d have to wear a muzzle during the full moon. You know, Hannibal Lecter style,” he laughed bitterly. “A muzzled wolf, what a fucking joke.”

“I asked because I was scared you were injured during the fight…”

Yet again, Baekhyun was right about that. “I got kicked in the shin pretty hard, I still can’t run as fast as before—I get tired easier,” Kyungsoo clarified.

Baekhyun looked like he was trying to figure out a complicated math problem. “We can visit Minseok today, or rather right away. One of his partners is a healer, and an actual nurse at that, he might be able to help you.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Stop trying to make your problems seem small,” Baekhyun said as he put down the cup with a bang. “Sorry. If you’re staying at my house and you’re hurting, it’s my responsibility to make you feel better. I don't know many spells, but I know some brilliant witches—let me help you, Soo.”

Kyungsoo didn’t dare to question him.

🌘🌘🌘

Minseok’s house smelled like cats and sex. From what Baekhyun told him, Minseok didn’t have cats.

“I have… two questions—one, do you do sex magic?” Minseok nodded with hesitation. “Okay, two—do you have any cats?”

The witch perked up.

“Oh Gods,” Baekhyun groaned. “You brought it up, now he won’t shut up.”

“Someone noticed!” Minseok looked delighted. “See, Baek, someone noticed!”

“You just smell like a cat… Are you a shapeshifter?” Kyungsoo asked despite Baekhyun trying to silence him with his hand. He felt an urge to bite him. 

“My grandma was, as well as my dad, but sadly I’m just a human,” Minseok laughed. “Baekhyun always tells me he can’t smell it.”

“It’s not that I can’t, it’s really faint because you reek of… I don’t even want to know—water-based lube, I guess.”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Your house really does smell like a sex dungeon. Like, there’s a fleeting smell of leather when you come in.”

“Who says I don’t have one? Neither of you has been to my basement,” Minseok said, amusement lighting up his eyes. “Why are the two of you here anyway?” He leaned his head on the doorframe, looking like he barely just woke up. 

“I give you rosemary and sage, you give me eggs. Deal?” Baekhyun’s rectangular smile adorned his face. Kyungsoo could feel his heart racing. _Shit._

“Only if you’ll be making garlic bread, Yixing can’t live without it. That’s basically all he eats at work.” He shook his head, probably judging his partner’s eating habits.

“Deal.” Baekhyun shook Minseok’s hand. “Also, Kyungsoo injured his shin. I hope that’s not a problem.” He offered Minseok a cheeky grin. 

Minseok gestured at them to come into his house. “During the full moon? What happened during the weekend? First Jongin, now you…”

“I got into a fight a few weeks ago, nothing related to the full moon.”

“A fight you say... “ Minseok mumbled as he led them to his kitchen, the smell of scrambled eggs and coffee still in the air. “You just had to show off your dominance, huh? You alphas always come to me with a tail between your legs, asking to patch you up after a fight,” the witch seemed to mock him. “I know your type,” Minseok laughed, looking at Baekhyun who was already shamelessly eating the scrambled eggs straight from the pan.

“I was defending myself. I didn't start the fight,” Kyungsoo said flatly. “Besides, I’m not an alpha—rather the opposite. Lone wolves fall outside any hierarchy.” He no longer had a pack to call his own, it didn’t matter. It never mattered.

“Oh, my bad. I’m sorry I snapped at you…” Minseok’s cat-like eyes lit up. “You have a very… strong aura, it screams dominance and independence. A lot of alphas, former or otherwise, I’ve met emitted similar energy.”

“I’m not even a full wolf,” Kyungsoo chuckled. “That’s impossible.”

“No, he’s right,” Baekhyun cut in as he chewed. “You’re really intimidating at first, like, my wolf wanted to challenge you to prove dominance… Which is a fucking terrible idea because you would've punched me on the spot." 

"I still can?"

"Have mercy on him, he's a good baker," Minseok laughed. "Even if it's his only redeeming quality."

"Jongdae loves me, fuck you." Baekhyun flipped them off.

"I'm guessing Yixing and Jongdae are your… partners?" Kyungsoo asked Minseok.

The witch nodded. "Xing's still sleeping after his shift, if you want him to heal you you'll have to wait. Jongdae’s still probably in the—well, he calls it a lab and I’m not arguing with him.”

“Dae likes the _mad scientist_ aesthetic a bit too much, he’s a chemist and makes good moonshine, and home-made wine,” Baekhyun clarified. "That's his redeeming quality." 

“Can moonshine be… good?” Kyungsoo questioned.

“No,” said Minseok.

“Yes,” Baekhyun cut in. “I mean, I like it at least.”

“That’s because you’re trying to LARP as a cowboy,” Minseok laughed.

Baekhyun pouted as he looked at Kyungsoo with fake-hurt. “He’s mean, Soo, do something about it!”

“No.”

Minseok tried not to make a sound as he laughed.

“At the very least I’m LARPing as a hippie, I just don’t know where to get LSD.”

“Thank Gods, I don’t want to listen to you trying to convince me that the universe is a simulation. It’s not, computers can’t simulate irrational numbers!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, betraying that he deeply cared about this topic. “And even if it is, we still need to live our lives.”

“Note, I’ll need to bother you about the simulation theory later.” Baekhyun smiled mischievously. “I was in a debate club once, I can talk shit for hours.”

Kyungsoo believed him even without further demonstration. “Was I cursed in a past life or something?” he groaned, laying his head on the kitchen table

"I mean, we're all technically cursed,” Baekhyun mumbled as he continued eating the scrambled eggs. “You aren’t special, Soo.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know—werewolves are the Australians of shapeshifters. What did your great-great-great-grandparent do to get cursed to shift into a wolf every month?” Kyungsoo snorted.

“Family rumor says adultery, but honestly, who the fuck knows. It’s not like anyone’s keeping a record.”

“Your father’s a shapeshifter, right?” Minseok cut in, his gaze focused on Kyungsoo. He felt like an exotic animal on the verge of extinction, a specimen that was meant to be studied and experimented on, not like an actual person.

Werewolves rarely mated outside of their packs, and if they did, it was usually with other wolves. It had less to do with strict traditions and more with the fact that other types of shapeshifters were simply very uncommon. And even if such relationships happened, the children usually took after one of the parents. Kyungsoo’s entire existence was an anomaly, a glitch in the system.

Of course, he had met other _mutts_ before, but people preferred to keep quiet about their ancestors, especially when it could have been seen as a sign of weakness, one more thing to pick on.

“Yes, he shifts into a malamute,” he answered, tired of telling this to everyone in this little community. It wasn’t their fault, they had no way of knowing it, but it was very quickly starting to get annoying.

“Oh, you’re a wolfdog?" Minseok proposed.

“I don’t think anyone’s called me that. Ever. But I guess?” 

“Well, that’s what people call actual dogs mixed with wolves—it doesn’t get deeper than that.” Minseok shrugged, pouring Kyungsoo another cup of coffee. “If you like the name, you should use it, but that’s your decision.”

Baekhyun took a sip of his coffee, the pink cup matching his faded, pastel-colored hair. “Min, you’re the expert here. Why would a witch curse someone to shift into a dog?”

The witch looked like someone asked him to explain the moon landing. “It doesn’t seem like a curse to me, especially because you can shift at will,” he said after a while. “Maybe one of your ancestors was forced to do manual labor. But malamutes are also incredibly stubborn and independent. To me, it almost seems like someone out of your ascendants already inhibited those personality traits and they were rewarded for it," Minseok theorized. “Or punished. Witches can be hard to understand sometimes...”

Some days it certainly felt like a punishment. Kyungsoo knew almost nothing about the family from his dad’s side—there was always a quiet incentive to treat them like they didn’t exist. He didn’t know whether his grandparents were still alive, hell, no one ever told him their names. 

“Good morning,” someone said from the direction of the stairs.

The man was probably taller than Kyungsoo, with a sturdy, but elegant build. He was wearing a thin bathrobe and black, checkered pajama bottoms.

“Hello, Xing,” Minseok said with affection in his voice as he reached to pour his boyfriend a cup of coffee. “It’s still pretty early.”

“I heard our guests.” Yixing smiled. “I’m a little nosy today.” He sat by the kitchen table, the chair creaking softly. “Black dogs are often familiars too, I wouldn’t be surprised if your ancestors dabbled in magic.”

“What kind?” Kyungsoo asked, feeling uneasy before he even heard the answer.

Yixing glanced at Minseok, the look in his eyes apologetic. “Related to death.”

🌘🌘🌘

“You’re a healer, right?” Kyungsoo asked, sipping on his third cup of coffee that morning, the caffeine elevating his blood pressure. He was getting anxious.

Baekhyun went with Minseok to the chicken coop to get his precious eggs, leaving Kyungsoo to practice his small talk skills with Yixing. He wasn’t doing too well.

The witch nodded. “I can feel that your leg is injured.”

Empaths were actually the worst, Kyungsoo decided. “It’s not that bad… I can still run.”

“But it hurts, doesn’t it?” Yixing looked at him with worry. “You shouldn’t hide your pain in front of someone who’s professionally trained to identify it.”

Kyungsoo tilted his head. “How can you tell? Besides feeling it, of course.”

“You keep your foot raised on the chair and you slightly avoid putting weight on your left leg,” Yixing said immediately. “I’m a nurse, I’ve seen some… I’m guessing it’s really bad tibia bruising, or a shin fracture if you were unlucky, but I’m not sure without taking a look at it first.” He smiled gently. “You should let people help you, Kyungsoo—not everyone is as cruel as you assume them to be.”

“I don’t—”

“Then why didn’t you tell Baekhyun immediately about your injury?” he cornered Kyungsoo. “He would’ve taken you here straight away. I’ve known him for years and I’ve patched him up countless times since we first met.”

“I’ve grown up in a much different environment, I’m not used to… showing weakness.”

The witch sighed as he gestured for Kyungsoo to lift up his leg. “You’re not weak, I can feel how much you’re hurting.” Yixing stood up and reached for a jar standing on the counter, the ointment inside smelling of pine. He touched Kyungsoo’s shin, gently applied the ointment, and said a spell in a language that sounded both indecipherable and familiar at the same time, the syllables sounding sharp on his tongue. “But hiding your pain doesn’t make you strong either. Try not to strain it today, let it heal.”

“Thank you, if you guys ever need someone to work in your garden or help you with preparing spells—I’ll probably be at Baekhyun’s,” Kyungsoo said, feeling his shin tingle, the warmth radiating throughout his whole body. 

“I’ll let everyone know.” Yixing smiled lazily.

Kyungsoo actually raced Baekhyun to his house, both of his legs pleasantly burning as he rode the bike. They even managed not to crack a single egg.

🌑🌑🌑

The dark clouds looming over them confirmed the weather forecast Kyungsoo checked in the morning—it was going to rain, probably soon.

“Do you plan on… staying here for a little longer?” Baekhyun asked that afternoon as he stretched on the blanket laid down on the grass in his garden. 

Kyungsoo didn’t want to acknowledge the question. “I don’t know, but I don’t have anywhere else to go.” He felt the sunshine on his face, the light wind kiss his cheeks and exposed chest.

“What about your family?”

“Oh, I don’t mean it _literally._ They would take me in, or I could find a pack without much problem, but…”

“But?”

“There’s a lot of places where I _could_ go, but not a single one on this cursed planet where I’d _want_ to go, Baek,” he said and opened his eyes, Baekhyun’s face looking washed up in the sunlight. “I think I’m alright here… I want to see your garden in fall, winter, spring… However long you want me here.”

“Is _'forever'_ a sappy enough answer to make you groan?” Baekhyun chuckled. "But by that I mean, at least till the summer ends. That's all I wish for."

“I think I’m slowly getting used to you being sappy.” Kyungsoo rolled onto his side. “Now I just need to find something to do… I can’t keep leeching off of you.”

“You’re not.”

“But I feel like I’m taking advantage of you. I can find a job in the town nearby, it doesn’t have to be full-time—maybe during the warmer months. I’ll ride my bike there every morning, and you’ll pick me up when my shift ends, and then we’ll eat dinner together or visit our friends,” Kyungsoo fantasized out loud.

“We’ll sit on the porch in the summer evenings, reading books and drinking tea. I’ll teach you the constellations, all the zodiac signs, and Greek heroes,” Baekhyun added, sounding dreamy.

“And some days, when I can’t fall asleep, I’ll shift and curl up against your chest. We’ll go on hikes and bike trips—you’ll show me your favorite trails.”

Baekhyun’s expression turned inexplicably sad. “You can’t keep promising me such beautiful things if you don’t mean them, Soo,” the way Baekhyun said his name took Kyungsoo's breath away. "Otherwise you'll break my heart." 

Kyungsoo sat up only to immediately straddle Baekhyun and gently touch his face. "But I do mean them, every last one of them. You don't understand—I've never had a place on Earth to call my own, a place my soul longed for, but I feel that it's here. I can't explain why." He felt frustrated trying to put his feelings into words, picking the nouns that sat on his tongue just right.

Baekhyun drew him closer, his breath warm against Kyungsoo's cheek. “Now _you_ are the sappy one.”

“Nothing in life is sappy if you stop giving a fuck—then you get called a romantic or an old soul."

“Or delusional,” Baekhyun chuckled. "Occasionally you may also be _ahead of the times._ " 

Kyungsoo felt a sudden surge of tenderness, he couldn't keep only looking at Baekhyun—he had to do something. “I haven’t been this happy in a long time,” he confessed as he started kissing Baekhyun’s neck, the wolf throwing his head back even more.

“I’m glad,” the smile was audible in his voice, Kyungsoo could feel every syllable spoken under his mouth.

Baekhyun guided his head upwards to make their lips meet—Kyungsoo felt overwhelmed by the sudden taste of strawberries, it almost made him dizzy. He reached and took Baekhyun’s hand, intertwining their fingers together.

“It’s going to rain,” Kyungsoo said quietly. “I can feel it.”

“But I don’t want to go,” Baekhyun whined and gently bit Kyungsoo’s lower lip, probably trying to distract him.

“I don’t fancy getting drenched, I already smell like a wet dog,” he laughed as they drew apart, the rain already intensifying.

“I keep telling you that you don’t!” Baekhyun rolled over from the blanket and started folding it, only to immediately run towards his back porch. “You smell like ozone! It’s so cool!”

“Why are you yelling!” Kyungsoo asked as he ran to Baekhyun.

“I don’t know!” he laughed, his voice getting drowned out by the quickly escalating rain. “I’m just so happy!” 

Kyungsoo couldn’t help but reciprocate the smile; Baekhyun looked ethereal, almost intangible, with his tousled, slightly wet hair and a wide grin adorning his freckled face. He grabbed Kyungsoo by his unbuttoned shirt and kissed him, this time deeply and fervently, as if they didn’t have any time all—instead of all the hours in a day, days in a year, and years in forever.

“My laundry! Our laundry!” Baekhyun screamed, drawing apart and pointing at the clothes hanging on the lines.

Kyungsoo’s stomach was starting to hurt from laughter. 

🌑🌑🌑

For the first time in a while, Kyungsoo’s leg didn’t hurt when he went on his morning run. Hell, it didn’t even hurt when he transformed—Yixing’s spell really did work. He ran back to Baekhyun’s house, the handle of his backpack placed between his teeth.

🌑🌑🌑

_Seven years ago_

Jihyun measured him up. “Stop being such a coward, Soo. You should shift, even for a few minutes. It’s the full moon for Gods’ sake.”

It was easy for her to say, Jihyun was half-human and she couldn’t shift.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Kyungsoo grumbled. “I feel uncomfortable here.”

They were sitting near the edge of the forest, pack members’ cars visible in the distance. Kyungsoo brought his legs up to his chest as he fought not to transform—he’d done it before, it was tough, but manageable.

Jihyun’s expression changed, she looked angry now. “You can’t let them walk over you! You’re not a kid anymore, Soo!”

“Your dad’s an alpha, my family isn’t even here today. No one will protect me if I shift.” He hid his face in his folded arms.

“I can tell my dad? Would that stop them from going after you?”

Kyungsoo shook his head. “Your dad doesn’t care. He’ll reprimand them, but there will be no consequences—there never are. I’m so fucking tired, Jihyun. Can I leave my backpack with you?”

She nodded her head. 

He returned from that full moon with a bloody nose and a scolding from the head alpha for trying to defend himself. Jihyun ended up punching one of the boys who attacked Kyungsoo, ultimately also getting told off by her father. 

Outcasts should always protect each other.

🌒🌒🌒

“Why didn’t you leave your pack earlier?” Baekhyun asked him as he kneaded the dough for garlic bread. Kyungsoo zoned out, staring at Baekhyun’s beautiful hands. “I just want to know your reasons, that's all,” he clarified. 

“I had friends there—the daughter of the former head alpha was my closest friend growing up, we kind of drifted apart over the years when she moved. I don’t know, it wasn’t always terrible, after I won a few fights everyone left me alone for the most part...” he explained, his knuckles itching, almost as if they remembered all the punches he had to throw over the years. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, no one should…” Baekhyun laid a head on his shoulder as he hugged him from behind, his hands covered in flour.

“At least now I know how to intimidate a man twice my size,” Kyungsoo laughed bitterly. “I just need to shift and show off my teeth—they get scared every damn time.”

“I’m sure of it,” Baekhyun chuckled. “But seriously, no one should experience something like that. I'm saying this both as a former alpha and just as a regular wolf.”

“I mean, I could pin you down—I’ve got experience. I might do that if you won’t stop pitying me.” Kyungsoo grinned as he faced Baekhyun, the look on his face unreadable. 

“Stop distracting meee,” he whined as he mixed flour with water. “I’m not pitying you, I feel sorry that you had to go through something so traumatic, it’s called empathy for fuck’s sake. And if you don’t stop putting words in my mouth you’ll have to change your clothes, flour tends to show on black fabric.” He glanced at Kyungsoo’s shirt.

“Don’t you dare,” he laughed.

Baekhyun stepped closer to him, his hands covered in sticky dough and with a wide grin on his lips. “I’m sorry, are you scared that your… casual, goth clothes will get stained?”

“It’s called minimalism!” Kyungsoo ran behind the kitchen table. “You should look into it, maybe you’d get rid of some of your cargo pants! I’ve helped you with laundry, I’ve seen your sins, some pairs have holes in the crotch area!” he screeched when Baekhyun touched his shoulder, leaving white residue behind in an act of petty revenge.

“Those were my gardening pants!” Kyungsoo heard as he ran up the stairs, Baekhyun’s steps audible behind him. “They are comfortable! I’m not trying to be a fashionista when only my dog can judge my outfit!” 

Kyungsoo entered Baekhyun’s room, his knees touching the bed. “You won’t,” he laughed, glancing at the bedsheets.

“You bet?” Baekhyun charged, pinning Kyungsoo on the bed, his dirty hands staining the covers. “I won,” he said, touching Kyungsoo’s shirt triumphantly.

Kyungsoo grinned at him. “Are you sure?” he asked before drawing Baekhyun closer, their lips almost touching.

“If you wanted a kiss you could’ve just asked.” Baekhyun pouted before giving him a peck. 

“That would be boring. This way you got some exercise.” Baekhyun burrowed his head in the crook of Kyungsoo’s neck before nipping the sensitive skin. “Don’t you have bread to make? Yeast to activate?”

“I have instant dry yeast though.” His breath tickled Kyungsoo. “I just need to add it to the dry ingredients.”

“Well, you got me there.”

“Can I see your leg?” Baekhyun asked out of the blue, looking up at him. 

Kyungsoo almost flinched. “Why?”

“I feel bad for not noticing it earlier,” he confessed, a note of regret audible in his voice. He sat up on the bed and went to the bathroom to wash his hands.

“Don’t,” Kyungsoo reassured him. “I basically taught myself to hide my pain.”

“No, Soo. It seems really obvious in retrospect. That’s why you stayed in the back during the full moon, that’s why you never wore shorts around me even when it was hot outside.” He sighed. “You’re a good actor, Soo, I’ll give you that, but I just think you spent your life around people who turned a blind eye to your pain.” Baekhyun smiled weakly as he crouched next to him.

Kyungsoo pulled up his jeans, the yellow bruise blooming on his shin like a sunflower in summer. “It’s finally healing.”

“I hope you’re as well.”

For some reason, Baekhyun’s words felt like a stab in the heart. “Isn’t it a little too late for me?” He once called himself _damaged goods_ —it still seemed like an appropriate description.

Baekhyun reached with his hand to dry the lone tear running down Kyungsoo’s cheek. “It’s never too late."

🌒🌒🌒

Kyungsoo gestured at the swimming trunks Baekhyun was holding before him. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm not gonna fit into that."

"Why? We're a similar size." 

"Baekhyun, these would be skin-tight on you, and I'm sorry to break it to you, but I have a bigger butt," he laughed.

“The way you hurt me.” Baekhyun dramatically turned around, trying to contain his laughter.

“I’m sorry, but it’s true!” Kyungsoo saw Baekhyun throw him another pair of swimming trunks, he didn’t even try to duck, letting them land on his face.

They planned to spend the afternoon together by a small lake nearby—it sounded heavenly, especially on such a hot day.

"My tan looks so funny," he snorted, looking at his reflection in the body length mirror. His arms were about two shades darker than his chest.

"You can always stop wearing shirts, I certainly won't mind," Baekhyun mumbled.

"Or start wearing more sunscreen."

"Stop proposing sensible solutions, I'm trying to flirt with you here."

"I know." Kyungsoo flicked his nose, making Baekhyun step aside. "I'm suggesting you step up your game." 

"I don't think you're the one to talk." Baekhyun pouted.

Kyungsoo walked up to him, their eyes interlocked. He smiled and tilted Baekhyun's chin upward, his fingers barely grazing the skin and his other hand. "If I were brave enough and kissed you, would you kiss me back?" 

The look on Baekhyun's face betrayed the absolute mayhem that must’ve been happening in his brain—the textbook example of gay panic. 

“Are you going to say yes?” Kyungsoo cackled. “I think I broke you.”

Baekhyun nodded vigorously. Kyungsoo took that as permission to continue. He couldn’t help but smile when their lips touched. 

🌒🌒🌒

Kyungsoo looked around the small beach by the lake—it was barely a twenty-minute drive from Baekhyun’s house. “Did you take mosquito spray?” He was ready to get eaten by the little bloodsuckers, but he still clung to the shred of hope that Baekhyun’s organic anti-insect spray would work.

“In the glove compartment!” Baekhyun shouted from the wooden pier situated on the east side of the lake. “Will you join me? There’s less of them here.”

“No! I have a book to finish.” Kyungsoo gestured at the cover.

“Come on! You aren’t a cat!”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes as he dropped the book. The sand felt unstable under his feet as he ran to Baekhyun, the wind tousling his hair. Baekhyun jumped into the lake before him, the chilly water splashing everywhere.

“Race me to the other end!” Baekhyun challenged him.

“You live here! I haven’t _seen_ a swimming pool in two years!”

“Tough luck, baby!”

He was not going to let him win, no fucking way. Kyungsoo was never a particularly good swimmer, but he gave the performance of his life in that pathetic, little lake, beating Baekhyun almost at the edge of the lake. His arms were sore just from this short race. 

“What’s my prize?” he asked, feeling his hair stick to his forehead.

Baekhyun grinned. “A kiss,” he said, took a deep breath, and submerged underwater. 

Maneuvering in the murky lake waters was challenging, but Kyungsoo managed to get close enough to Baekhyun to touch his face and draw him for a kiss. Everything felt slippery as well as somewhat unreal, fleeting. Kyungsoo wished he could breathe underwater to just watch the sun rays dance on the surface, creating a halo around Baekhyun’s head. His lips were soft—even if Kyungsoo didn’t enjoy them for too long because he was starting to get dizzy. 

“Pop culture lied to us,” he remarked after getting his breathing in check.

“You’re killing the romantic in me.” Baekhyun pouted.

“I never said I didn’t want to do it again.”

In response, Baekhyun splashed him, making the water get into Kyungsoo’s eyes.

🌒🌒🌒

The smooth surface of the lake reflected the evening, lilac sky like a mirror—it was starting to get dark.

“How do you become someone’s mate? Besides the obvious, of course,” Kyungsoo asked, putting down the book he was reading.

“I don’t think sex is necessary actually?”

Whenever Baekhyun avoided answering his questions, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “But besides sex? Is there like a sacred ritual? Drinking each other’s blood?”

“That’s what some witches do, baby,” Baekhyun refrained from an actual answer to Kyungsoo’s question yet again. “I don’t know, I’ve seen some wolves mark each other by—well, biting.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood.

“I think Junmyeon and Sehun both have their marks on their wrists. But most wear it on their shoulders, I think… Soo?” Baekhyun looked at him with worry. “What’s happening?”

His mouth was watering at the memory, fuck, fuck. He felt sick. “When I got kicked out, I—the head alpha, I bit the head alpha in the shoulder to get him off me…”

He immediately felt Baekhyun’s hands cup his face. "Hey, look at me, everything's fine, okay? You're safe," he said gently. "Breathe in, and out. Deep breaths, remember." 

"Okay, okay, it's fine. It's just—the taste. Fuck, the taste," Kyungsoo said, focused on Baekhyun's eyes. 

"You didn't do anything wrong, baby. You were protecting yourself." He reached for a bottle of water and handed it to Kyungsoo. 

He took a big gulp, the water washing over his tongue, and making the phantom aftertaste go away. "Thank you, I'm fine, really. I just remembered the taste.”

“It’s disgusting, I know.” Baekhyun offered him a weak smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Have you bitten someone?”

There was a beat of silence before Baekhyun answered. “Yes. I had to break up a fight and there was just no other way they would stop,” he confessed somberly. “That’s why I resigned from my former pack. I was ashamed I lashed out at the wolves I should’ve been protecting. I still am.”

“Granting positions based solely on someone’s strength is almost always a mistake,” Kyungsoo said as he laid down on the blanket, avoiding looking at Baekhyun. His heart was still racing. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, I’m not cut out to be a leader, I’m just the biggest boy when I shift,” he chuckled.

“You really are,” Kyungsoo laughed. “Sorry for freaking out.”

“No, that’s on me. I should’ve remembered how you react to blood. Why did you ask about mating anyway? It was kinda out of the blue.”

Well, that was embarrassing. He put the opened book on his face to mask his blush. “I was just wondering—daydreaming almost, about what it would take to… just stay with you, I guess,” he laughed nervously. “Stay here, in this little safe haven.”

Baekhyun lifted the book off Kyungsoo’s face, he looked amused. “I never pegged you as someone who dreams of domestic bliss.”

“It’s the country air, it brings out the inner tradwife in me. I guess Mongryong would act as our kid,” he decided to continue the joke instead of confronting his feelings.

“But then I’d have to be the emotionally distant father. I don’t even own a suit! Or a pipe!”

“Why won’t you love me, father? Didn’t you like my recital?” Kyungsoo tried to say in a thin voice, but he interrupted himself with laughter.

Baekhyun laughed as well, but his expression quickly turned solemn. “You can stay with me as long as you want to, you don’t have to plan out your whole life because you like living here. Maybe just till the summer ends, treat this as a vacation.”

“It has more to do with liking _you_ than planning out my whole life.”

“Someone has a crush,” Baekhyun giggled.

“Don't flatter yourself."

He felt Baekhyun's lips touch his forehead. "You're cute."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter isn't beta read bc i underestimated how utterly draining this semester would be... it's also probably rushed in some scenes but I don't have much time to fix it. idk, I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless!

Kyungsoo put his hand on the inside of Baekhyun’s thigh and squeezed the soft skin. It was already dark outside, the only source of light being the car lights illuminating the road before them. The probability that someone would notice them was pretty low. 

“Pull over,” he said, his voice almost getting drawn out by the radio.

“Lube’s in the glove compartment.” Baekhyun’s grin was bright even in the complete darkness that surrounded them.

Kyungsoo laughed. “Always prepared,” he said as he reached for it.

“But we’re staying in the car, getting bitten in the ass by a mosquito isn’t sexy.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“More than one,” he said, pulling over on the side of the road. “There isn’t much to do here if you’re a bored teen,” Baekhyun laughed as he got into the backseat, stepping over the gearbox and immediately getting rid of his shorts. “I like that you’re taking the initiative,” he said with a wide smile.

“You do?” Kyungsoo tilted his head, his hand resting on Baekhyun’s shoulder. 

He nodded. “Yeah, the last time I kept telling you what to do—I wouldn’t mind if we switched roles this time around.”

Kyungsoo’s breath hitched. Gods, this fucking man. “Ride me.” He slid his hands down Baekhyun’s sides and cupped his ass. “But I want to see you prep yourself first.”

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up as he took off his underwear. “I can put on a show for you, baby.” He straddled Kyungsoo and opened the lube packet with his teeth, the thin strip of plastic hanging from his mouth. “You’re rather quiet, aren’t you?” he asked before muttering a cleansing spell, the ancient language sounding clumsy on his tongue.

“I never know what to say…” Kyungsoo felt mesmerized as he watched Baekhyun coat his fingers with the clear substance, his head thrown back as he started fingering himself. 

“Oh, you’re shy,” Baekhyun fake-mocked him and cupped his jaw with his free hand. 

“Of course I’m shy. At least one of us has to have some shame here.”

“Said the man who got so horny he couldn’t wait till we got home,” he laughed, but it sounded more like a quiet gasp. Baekhyun rested his forehead on the seat behind Kyungsoo, his breath tickling the skin on his neck. 

“Touche.” He felt trapped, Baekhyun’s body looming over him—he couldn’t help but look at him, the way his muscles moved, his jaw clenched, the veins on his neck glistening thanks to a thin layer of sweat. His silhouette was illuminated from the back by the faint, yellow light situated near the rearview mirror. It was impossible to comprehend—being wanted by such a beautiful and kind man. 

He kissed Baekhyun’s forehead, his hands entangled into his hair. “You look so lovely,” he said, stopping himself from kissing every freckle on Baekhyun’s cheeks. “So, so lovely.”

“I think I’d look better sitting on your cock,” Baekhyun laughed, and again, it sounded more like a bark than anything human. He kept on fingering himself, the lube making an obscene sound. “Gods, I wish I could sink my teeth into your neck, but it would mean more to me than it would to you…” 

“As long as it doesn’t scar… But I won’t mark you back,” Kyungsoo said, the regret pooling into the pit of his stomach. “I can’t—I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun nodded his head. “It’s fine, it’s alright, baby. I understand… I think I’m ready,” he said, helping Kyungsoo slide down his loose, gym shorts. 

“Do you have a condom?”

“And where’s the fun in that?” Baekhyun asked as he sank on Kyungsoo’s half-hard cock, his back arched.

“Wasn’t I supposed to be in charge?” Kyungsoo chuckled. Baekhyun felt warm, so warm, that it was getting impossible to form a coherent thought. He wanted to move so badly, but Baekhyun’s weight on top of his thighs was stopping him. It was like a honey trap, he wanted, he _needed_ to thrust into Baekhyun, but it also felt too good to just sit there, to breathe in his scent.

_Wild strawberries._

“You were slacking off.” He smiled before kissing him eagerly, pressing their bodies together. Kyungsoo could feel his heartbeat, and their teeth clashed, at first almost making Kyungsoo flinch. 

His hands traveled to Baekhyun’s hips, right to the edge of his shirt, and helped him slowly raise, only for him to slam down with a loud slap. And Kyungsoo felt helpless, just watching Baekhyun bounce in his lap, his eyes half-closed. 

“We’ll need to work on your confidence, because I have a feeling you’re actually great at telling people what to do,” he said in between gasps. “I can just imagine you coming into our bedroom and telling me to strip down, get on my hands and knees, not caring whether I’m busy… Just caring that you're in the mood to make me feel good. And you’d say it in that low voice that always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight… Gods, I love your voice,” he babbled on, squeezing Kyungsoo’s cock with every bounce. "I love it, really."

Kyungsoo’s patience was wearing thin, he grabbed Baekhyun by his waist and laid him down on the backseat, his head touching the side door window. Baekhyun let out a boisterous laugh—a pure expression of euphoria. Kyungsoo’s movements were less controlled, more erratic than Baekhyun’s, but neither of them seemed to mind. 

“It’s such a shame that you’re so quiet… I really want to hear you talk, tell me how much you love fucking me, how good I feel—because I want to tell you the same. I love it, I love it, Soo, please, don’t stop.” Baekhyun’s ability to form coherent sentences while getting fucked in the back of his car was a strange talent to witness. Kyungsoo felt like he should be taking notes.

“Maybe you should do something else with your mouth?”

His eyes lit up. “I think you’re right.” Baekhyun sank his teeth into his shoulder, the canines penetrating the skin with slight resistance. The pain was dull, not at all similar to getting bitten by an actual wolf—despite his genetics, Baekhyun’s human teeth weren’t sharp enough. 

“Even your blood is sweet, Soo,” he laughed, his mouth covered with a crimson, glassy layer.

And despite his usual aversion to blood, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but kiss it off his lips. Somehow, he couldn’t taste the usual metallic aftertaste, only the faint aroma of wild strawberries.

🌒🌒🌒

The raspberry bush barely reached Kyungsoo’s waist, but the abundance of fruits was visible from afar. He didn’t even get on his knees to fill the entire teacup with them. Baekhyun smiled at him from the picnic blanket, his eyes lazily half-closed in bliss, the three witches laying behind him.

"I know that in some sense I'm a dog, but I won't be joining your puppy pile," Kyungsoo said, munching on the raspberries from the cup as he sat down on the edge of the blanket. “Seriously, aren’t you guys uncomfortable?”

“My legs are being squashed by the weight of three adult men on top of them, but other than that I think I’m good,” Minseok laughed.

“I’d be delighted if I were in your position, such a heavenly way to die,” Jongdae said.

“ _To die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine_ ,” Baekhyun sang.

“I knew I stole that from somewhere.”

“Can you not remind me of Morrissey’s existence?” Yixing grumbled, his face burrowed in Minseok’s chest. 

Kyungsoo offered him the cup of raspberries as he laid down next to Baekhyun.

“Are you planning on staying here, Kyungsoo?” Minseok asked. “It’s been—what, three weeks? Didn’t you want to stay the night and that’s all?”

“I really like it here,” he answered vaguely, knowing Baekhyun will understand what he means. “I don’t know, I’m torn. On one hand, I want to stay, something about this place makes me calm, calmer than I’ve ever been in my life. But if I keep doing nothing, I'm scared I’ll grow restless and bored. I don’t want to grow sick of this life.”

“What do you do for fun?” Minseok continued. 

“Can I offer you an edgy answer and say _survive_?”

Jongdae giggled. “You can always take up a hobby, start doing something you always wanted but never had the time for—writing a book, painting, playing music, learning languages or studying history. If you get _really_ bored you can always look for a job in town, that’s what life is here.”

The wind brushed against Kyungsoo’s face, making him snuggle up to Baekhyun in search of warmth. "I like to cook—"

"You do?" Baekhyun perked up.

"Yeah, I went to culinary school. If we fused we'd make an ideal tradwife." 

“Is Mongryong your child then?” Yixing asked sleepily.

“Yes!” they said in unison.

Kyungsoo heard someone open the back gate.

“Hi, Sehun!” Jongdae greeted him, his hand tangled into Yixing’s hair. 

Sehun, despite his usual aloof persona, looked panicked. “The cow escaped,” he said in a way like he didn’t believe what was happening. 

“What?” Yixing sat up with his eyes still half-closed.

“Junmyeon will kill me. She’s been here for less than a month, I’m dead. I lost a cow” He ran his hands through his lightened, damaged hair, it made him look like a children’s drawing of a mad scientist.

“How fast can cattle run?” Kyungsoo asked, preparing for the inevitable.

“Faster than a human, that’s for sure,” Jongdae remarked, the tone of his voice calm despite the situation. Were cows on the loose a normal situation for him?

“Baekhyun, you go get the car. Sehun, what direction did she take?” 

The younger wolf gestured at the road.

“Better than I thought,” Kyungsoo mumbled as he took off his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Yixing looked even more confused than before. 

But before Kyungsoo managed to give him an answer, he was already shifting, his form rapidly changing. He barked at Baekhyun to hurry up. 

“You go, I’ll get the rope,” he said. 

Feeling the wind in his thick fur was, in Kyungsoo’s opinion, possibly the best thing in the entire world. He ran, his paws touching the hot asphalt, pure euphoria erupting in his chest. This was what freedom felt like to him, just running, not really knowing where, and enjoying the brief moment of solitude. 

The cow didn’t run that far from Sehun’s home, in fact, she was munching on some grass about a mile away. Kyungsoo had never seen a cow up close before, much less one with curly, fluffy hair. He didn’t know what to do, if he approached her she could get scared and start running again.

Baekhyun’s old car roared behind him.

“Bessie, come home!” he screamed, making Kyungsoo cringe at the pun. The dog jokes will never die. 

He got out of the car, the rope held firmly in his hands. “My cowboy dreams are coming true, I guess. Soo, could you… herd our Bessie?” he asked with a wide grin on his face.

Kyungsoo barked in approval. 

It wasn’t particularly difficult, the cow wasn’t scared, she went with them willingly and Baekhyun didn’t have to drag her by the rope around her neck. Kyungsoo ran beside the car as Baekhyun drove it, the cow trotting beside them.

“Honestly, this took quicker than I thought,” he laughed. “I thought Sehun was pulling a prank on us.”

Kyungsoo had quickly learned to accept everything that happens in this little town without questions. 

🌒🌒🌒

“What happened to the fucking cow?” were the first words they heard from Junmyeon upon running into him on their way back, or rather, upon arriving at Minseok’s to inform Sehun of their successful mission.

From what Kyungsoo knew of Junmyeon, the man didn’t curse. Kyungsoo barked, pointing with his nose at Sehun.

“Of course, I know it’s his fault. I just want to know _what_ happened.”

“I didn’t pay attention to her and she ran away through the opened gate…”

“How the fuck did you lose a whole cow?” Junmyeon laid his head on the steering wheel, making the car honk pathetically. 

“What can I say, I’m a very talented man,” Sehun laughed, making Junmyeon sigh. 

“At least you got her back.” He looked defeated. “You know, whatever, _I_ didn’t have to chase her, so it’s all good.”

“Neither did Sehun,” Baekhyun laughed. “You should thank Soo for getting your Bessie back.” Kyungsoo barked at him. “Okay, me too, but I was mostly pretending to be a cowboy the entire time. Childhood dreams coming true and all that.”

“I refuse to call her Bessie, that’s for sure, but thank you,” he said, reaching out his hand through the rolled-up window to pat Kyungsoo on the head.

To his own surprise, Kyungsoo didn’t hate it as much as he assumed he would.

“We demand payment!” Baekhyun put on a theatrical Texan accent once again. “Ya won’t get your gal back for free.”

To Junmyeon’s dismay, Sehun started cackling. “If you stop talking like this I’ll get you guys ice cream… And some clothes for Kyungsoo…” he sighed. “Does anyone have a nut allergy? Lactose intolerance?”

Kyungsoo shook his head, he knew these questions were directed at him.

“Good, Sehun, get your savior some clothes—they can be mine, it’s not a problem.”

🌒🌒🌒

The pair’s house was much bigger than Baekhyun’s, it wasn’t a cozy cottage, but also not a modern looking building. It looked more like a classic, blue suburban home with a small porch, symmetrical windows, and matching wooden blinders. Sehun led him to the bedroom, and then to the ensuite bathroom, Kyungsoo’s paws squeaking on the polished floors.

“Gimme a second, you should find some fitting pants, and everything else you might need, in the laundry basket. I’ll look for a matching shirt.” He offered him a polite smile.

Kyungsoo immediately transformed and closed the door behind him. He looked at his reflection in the mirror as he put on Junmyeon's clothes—the concept of private possession seemed fuzzy in this place. Not that he minded, it was just interesting how welcoming and helpful everyone was even to a relative outsider like him.

He heard a knock on the door.

“Oh my.” Sehun’s eyes scanned his shoulder as he walked in. “Well, that’s not gonna scar, it’s too shallow.” He touched the tender skin around the scab.

“That was the point,” Kyungsoo said defensively. “I didn’t want to be marked as someone’s property.” He didn’t really think that, he was sure neither did Baekhyun, but he was still scared people would assume that. For the first time in his life, Kyungsoo felt free and he wanted everyone to know.

“Easy there, don’t cut yourself on the edge,” Sehun laughed as he handed Kyungsoo a loose-fitting shirt. “You’re not wearing a collar with a nametag. In the end, it’s just a bite mark—you don’t have to subscribe to the symbolic meaning. Especially when it’s not even going to be visible in a few weeks’ time.” He shrugged.

Kyungsoo felt bad for snapping at Sehun. He didn’t want anybody to notice, it was between him and Baekhyun, but now everybody will know. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off so harshly… It's just—it almost feels unreal.” It was probably going to take him a few weeks to sort out his feelings on the issue. 

Sehun’s only reply was a coy smile. “Can I ask you an unrelated question?”

“Go ahead.” Kyungsoo tensed up, expecting something vile to some out of Sehun’s mouth.

“How did you not get stuck in your underwear when you shifted?”

That caught Kyungsoo off guard. “The trick is to start pulling it off as you start to shift, that way no one has to see your junk,” he laughed.

“I don’t think Baekhyun would mind.”

Kyungsoo threw a towel at him. 

🌒🌒🌒

Baekhyun kept playing with his car keys, the metal chiming softly. "Do you need something from the store?" 

“Not really? You can just go there, you know? I’ll take care of Mongryoung for you, don’t worry,” Kyungsoo said, sounding annoyed. He didn’t mean it, but he also didn’t understand what Baekhyun wanted from him, he was being more clingy than usual.

“Oh, I know, don’t worry. I’m just killing time—you’ve never gone grocery shopping with Junmyeon. I swear, it takes off two years of my life every time,” he giggled. “He won’t stop until he finds everything on his shopping list. He even writes down the prices!”

To Kyungsoo that sounded like heaven. “Just go, don’t forget to buy some vegetarian options, for variety's sake." He gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Why is Junmyeon organizing a barbeque anyway?”

Baekhyun tilted his head. “You don’t get it?” he chuckled. “It’s a _‘thank you’_ for us, and an excuse to spend some time with you. My friends—they really seem to like you.” Baekhyun kissed him back. "Don't forget to help Jongdae with the grill!" he yelled as he headed towards the front door.

What he’d said took a few minutes to Minseok’s house to sink in—people wanted to spend time with him. Kyungsoo didn’t want to be a lone wolf anymore, he wanted to stay here. 

“Fuck,” he muttered upon getting hit with this realization, a pan scrubber held firmly in his hand. 

“What happened?” Jongdae perked up from the porch.

Kyungsoo shook his head. “Nothing, I just remembered something, don’t worry,” he sighed. “Where do you keep the kindling?”

“It’s probably in the garage,” he said as he continued to cut the cheese block into smaller pieces. “Try looking in the lower cupboard.”

The garage seemed cluttered with random stuff, so much random stuff… Kyungsoo counted four bikes in total, several paint cans, fishing gear, old blankets, and pillows—just fucking everything you can think of that could be found in a garage. But in amidst of this chaos, Kyungsoo found something that didn’t belong there—a pregnant cat, nestled in between the blankets that had long become a source of nutrition for moths.

And the pregnant cat had just started giving birth.

“Jongdae!” Kyungsoo screamed, making the cat hiss at him. “Jongdae, please, for the love of Gods’, come here!”

He heard Jongdae move from the porch, the wooden floor creaking with his every step. “Huh, maybe the kindling is in—oh, fuck… What happened?” He kneeled down next to Kyungsoo.

“You have a degree, do something!” Kyungsoo ran his hand through his short hair, the cat kept hissing at them, trying to protect the small ball of fur lying next to her. 

“I’m a chemist! Not a veterinarian!”

“What the fuck is this bloody _thing_ right there?” Kyungsoo felt dizzy just looking at it.

“The placenta? I don’t fucking know! If you start panicking, I’ll start too!”

“Why are you yelling? I can hear you in the kitchen!” Minseok shouted through the porch as he kept preparing food for the barbeque.

“There’s a cat giving birth here!”

“Oh, alright, I’m gonna get some towels, and you should stop yelling. Leave the mom alone,” Minseok sighed and backed off into the house. “Also, come here, wash your hands, let her eat the placenta—that’s normal. Okay, I think that’s your cat birth crash course.

Kyungsoo didn’t wait for too long to get back into the safety of Minseok’s house. “Can I just stay in the back? Unless you want me to faint. I’m really not good with blood.”

Minseok shrugged as he handed him the antibacterial soap. “There shouldn’t be much blood if the birth goes without complications, but I get why you may want to stay back. It’s kinda weird to look at frankly.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” Jongdae smiled at him, he was acting much calmer now—Minseok’s composed demeanor seemed to be infectious. “I’m curious, it depends how big the litter’s gonna be, but will you and Baek want a kitten?”

Kyungsoo’s immediate answer was a loud groan. “I don’t know? Would the kitten even like me? I probably smell like a dog to them…” He’d never had a cat, hell, he never even _wanted_ to have one. Wolves usually didn’t have pets anyway.

“All wolves I know seem to get along with cats just fine, I don’t think it really matters. But I don’t want to pressure you into anything, it’s just an idea,” Jongdae said. “Yixing’s gonna be surprised when his shift ends.”

“He wanted a cat anyway.”

“Yeah, but these are surprise cats. You might have to sweet-talk him later,” he laughed.

“There are other things I can do with my mouth to humor him.” Minseok wiggled his eyebrows as he grabbed a pile of clean towels.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Kyungsoo said under his breath. 

“Oh, cum on,” Jongdae giggled at his own pun. “We’re all adults here.”

“I’m a self-identified prude, leave me out of this.” Kyungsoo decided to leave the bathroom as quickly as possible.

“You’ve just committed yourself to a lifetime of bad, sex jokes,” Minseok laughed. “I hope you’re aware of that!”

“I can always _take a midnight train goin’ anywhere_.” Kyungsoo decided that communicating in song lyrics was going to be their thing.

“Do you really want to leave?”

“No!”

After the cat mom gave birth, Kyungsoo picked the smallest, only black kitten—he was determined to take care of her, even if he decided to not stay with Baekhyun after the summer ended. He remembered reading somewhere that black cats had the smallest chance of getting adopted—they were outcasts too, just like him. Although, this label seemed self-imposed at this point. He finally belonged, even if it was for a limited amount of time.

🌓🌓🌓

Kyungsoo was surprised how… casual the barbeque was. He was anticipating a semi-formal event, with everyone wearing button-ups and slacks, barely drinking or eating, desperately trying to hold up a professional persona as if they were taking part in a fancy banquet. And, oh boy, was he wrong.

Honestly, the pink, flower-print shirt he got from Junmyeon’s wardrobe was probably too… neat when compared to Minseok’s and Chanyeol’s sweats, and Jongdae’s plaid pajama pants. Speaking of Jongdae, he brought three jars filled with, what Kyungsoo assumed, was some kind of alcohol of mysterious origin.

“Alright, that’s your baptism of fire, Soo,” Jongdae said, handing him a glass filled with slightly orange substance, it smelled vaguely of peaches and cinnamon.

“Is this your legendary moonshine?”

“Precisely! This one isn’t _that_ strong though.”

Kyungsoo took a small sip only to immediately wince. “What do you mean by _not that strong_? This could burn a hole in the ground!” Despite his protests, Kyungsoo took another sip.

“Nah, I have some 90% stuff in my basement. This is amateur shit.”

“For science.” He raised the glass. In Kyungsoo’s opinion, it tasted better when you took a bigger gulp, he could even taste the cinnamon. “Not the worst experiment I conducted on myself.”

“Care to explain?”

“Oh, once I wanted to check if it’s true that if you drink enough diet sodas you stop tasting the artificial sweetener—it kinda works?”

“How bored were you?” Baekhyun chimed in and took his glass to eat the peaches from the bottom.

“As bored as you can be when working graveyard shifts in a not-so-popular herbal shop. We had a convenience store across the street."

"So, bored to death?" 

He nodded and left Baekhyun and Jongdae to catch up—Kyungsoo was never good at keeping the conversion going. Everyone was nice to him, the wolves seemed genuinely interested in his life and Kyungsoo was too awkward to entertain these kinds of talks. He wished he could hand everyone an FAQ booklet instead of constantly having to explain his family tree. And while it wasn't anyone's fault for being curious, it was certainly tiring. Kyungsoo was simply tired of being forced to talk about something that had brought him a great amount of pain over his life.

“This shirt is mine?” Kyungsoo poked Minseok with a toothpick he stole from the cheese plate, the single glass of moonshine was starting to kick in, making him less shy.

“It’s public property now, _you_ live with the commune enthusiast, you should know.” He tried to take away Kyungsoo’s weapon of choice.

“No, it’s my shirt. Not some mythical communist toothbrush we all have to share.” If this were a video game, there would be a ‘ _Kyungsoo will remember this’_ sign over his head. “For all I know, Baekhyun’s biggest offense is hanging a _Live, Laugh, Love_ picture in his house. I’m not a graphic designer, but that thing is an eyesore.”

Minseok shrugged. “Eh, it’s just an old inside joke. His parents are sociologists and they are quite politically involved. When they first moved here there was a rumor that they wanted to start a commune. As you can see, they didn’t, but the joke remained.” 

“So no communes? No _back-to-the-land_ ? No _free love_?” Kyungsoo actually felt a little disappointed with Minseok’s explanation. He hoped the source of this friendly teasing was more… interesting.

“Listen, if you’re interested in polyamory I can be your guide, but Baekhyun is a serial monogamist, as most wolves are. That’s between the two of you.” He pointed at the bite mark on Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“Has everyone noticed it?” Kyungsoo groaned. He thought he hid it pretty well, but Junmyeon’s loose shirt ruined his preparations.

“Oh, yeah. Don’t hold it against them though, your arrival has brought them enough entertainment to last for _years_ … We don’t have clubs here, so we just gossip.”

“Speak for yourself,” Chanyeol cut in, joining Kyungsoo by the cheese plate.

“I am! But maybe you should listen as well. Jongin keeps complaining that you still haven’t settled _your issues_.”

From what Kyungsoo had managed to piece together, the reason Jongin was upset during the full moon was a fight he had with Chanyeol hours prior. They weren't a mated couple—neither of them wore a claiming bite in a visible spot on their bodies, but it was obvious they were making preparations.

“Gods, I’ll never tell you anything ever again,” Chanyeol groaned, a glass of beer in his hand. 

Minseok grinned. “Okay, I managed to get the two of you in close proximity—now talk. My job here is done.” He started to walk away.

“About what?”

Chanyeol glanced at his bite mark and then back at Minseok, who was already far enough not to hear their conversation. “Don’t worry, Kyungsoo. You didn’t do anything wrong, neither did Baek. This is on me and my indecisiveness…”

The tone of his voice made Kyungsoo’s heart crumple into a ball. Chanyeol sounded so defeated with himself. “Let’s talk like a mutt with a bastard child, shall we?” Kyungsoo said, making Chanyeol laugh. A human marrying a werewolf would’ve been quite a scandalous ordeal back in the day, so while it was flippant to call the half-human a _bastard_ , it wasn’t far from how the traditionalists saw it. “You get it, Chanyeol, right? Not being one thing, but also not feeling like the other? It’s like you’re stuck in limbo, constantly trying to prove both sides wrong that you’re more than what they’ve always assumed…”

“Like no matter what you do, you won’t fit into either of the roles that were assigned to you,” the half-human added.

“You shouldn’t feel pressured into fulfilling a role that doesn’t suit you,” Kyungsoo said quietly. 

“I know, but I love Jongin… I know what it’d mean to him, frankly, I’m just not sure what it would mean to _me_ —becoming official mates. I never thought about it—I never assumed I’d have to.”

That sentiment hit close to home for Kyungsoo.

“How did the two of you meet?”

Chanyeol laughed, his eyes brightening up for a second. “We both worked a fruit picking job and the conditions were so bad Jongin started to joke around that he was going to curse our employer. And I helped him with a small, but a very annoying curse.” He beamed. “Nothing brings people like spite.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “And poor working conditions.”

“Cheers to that!” Chanyeol raised his glass with a mischievous grin.

“Y’all really want to get me wasted.” He shook his head and took a sip of the moonshine only to immediately wince. “I don’t know what you should do, Chanyeol. I’m in a similar situation myself, and it’s frustrating—I never thought a wolf would want to be with me, but Baekhyun does, and I want to be with him too. But I also know that this,” he said, pointing at the bite mark, “doesn’t mean the same thing to him as it does to me. It never will and that’s okay. He didn’t bite me hard enough, it won’t scar…” he added.

“You can do that?”

“Of course you can, it’s your relationship, Chanyeol. We don’t have to follow old traditions that don’t suit us anyway.” Kyungsoo had been thinking about this topic since he’d met Baekhyun, since he’d realized that his feelings had a chance of being reciprocated. “No one can force you to mold into a form that doesn’t suit you.”

🌓🌓🌓

It was a warm night, but the air felt crisp. Kyungsoo laid down on the blanket next to Baekhyun, his silhouette barely visible in the darkness. The barbecue had ended around an hour ago, everyone going their separate ways.

Looking at the sky made Kyungsoo feel small, but not in a physical sense, not really, he felt insignificant like he was glancing into the depths of a chasm—maybe because he was.

“I don’t really know the constellations,” he confessed to Baekhyun.

“I promised to teach you,” he could hear the smile in his voice.

Countless people had died and been born under the same sky, and yet, the only thing Kyungsoo could pay attention to was Baekhyun’s hand, gently encircled around his wrist, showing him the stars that formed the Summer Triangle. It felt like his chest was being crushed under the weight of all the stars, planets, and galaxies looming over them. 

“What’s your zodiac sign?”

“Capricorn.”

Baekhyun let out a soft laugh. “You’re lucky that it’s visible this time of year.” He moved Kyungsoo’s hand south. “It’s this squashed triangle. These are its horns, slightly lower are its hooves, and the furthest point is its tail. It’s supposed to be like a fish-goat.”

“The Greeks must’ve been really bored,” Kyungsoo snickered, still focused on the way Baekhyun was touching his hand. 

“Yeah, but they made impressing cute boys way easier for me.”

He almost felt offended. “I’m not a kid, I just have a babyface, I’m probably older than Minseok.”

Baekhyun cackled. “Min’s older than me, older than Jun even. So you’re definitely wrong here.” He intertwined their fingers, the sleeve of his hoodie getting in the way. “He’s like an older brother to me, I’ve known him since I can remember.” 

“You’ve always lived here?”

“Yeah, for most of my life, same thing with Minseok. I’ve seen people come and go, die, and give birth, move out only to come back years later. I don’t know what it is about this piece of land, but once you take roots here something keeps calling you back,” the smile was faintly audible in his voice, each syllable said with a slight lilt. 

“I think it’s because it doesn’t feel like a real place. People come back here to see whether they had dreamed it all up. And they stay because the sky is just as clear as they remembered, the water in the lake just as warm, the neighbors just as cordial and friendly,” Kyungsoo theorized. “In the beginning, I was scared that it wasn’t real, that there was a catch and you’ll show your true intentions… but the full moon is coming again, and I haven’t been this happy in a long time. For the first time, I’m not scared of it.” 

Baekhyun’s reply was a low hum—Kyunsoo could hear the crickets in the distance. “Soo?”

“Yes?”

“Do you trust me enough to follow me through a dark path, surrounded by tall grass, into the woods?”

“Depends whether you want to murder me or suck me off—what I’m saying is that I’m okay with one of these options,” he laughed, trying to make out Baekhyun’s face in the dark. He couldn’t see as well as Baekhyun, who was already standing up and getting ready to fold the blanket. “But I’m not saying which one.”

“I wasn’t planning on doing either?” He took Kyungsoo’s hand and helped him stand up. “I just want to show you something, okay?” Kyungsoo could hear the smile in his voice. “You won’t regret it, trust me, but we’ll need to get Mongryong first" Baekhyun started walking in _some_ direction—probably his home, but Kyungsoo wasn’t able to tell anyway.

He waited on the front porch, listening to the crickets and Baekhyun’s voice as he talked to Mongryong. Kyungsoo turned on his phone’s flashlight, just in case he couldn’t see the path properly.

When Baekhyun came out of the house, he took his hand again, squeezed it tightly enough for Kyungsoo’s knuckles to turn white, and started walking in the direction of the forest. For the second time that night, Kyungsoo’s entire world was reduced to the starry sky above him and Baekhyun’s warm touch. Nothing was more important at that moment, not his anxieties and doubts, his insecurities, nothing. Just Baekhyun’s presence and the warm, summer night they were spending together.

With each step, the tall grass, or what Kyungsoo could make out of it at least, seemed to grow taller and taller, and the ground under his feet got more unsteady. By the end of the walk, the tips of his shoes were covered in mud.

“Is there a stream here?” Kyungsoo asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, it falls into the lake I’ve shown you before,” Baekhyun answered. “We’re almost there.” He stopped at the edge of the water.

“Why—” Kyungsoo didn’t even have the chance to finish his question before it hit him.

_Fireflies._

“I told you to trust me,” Baekhyun laughed quietly.

The little, flickering bugs seemed like the opposite of the night sky with their warm light—like tiny speckles of glitter thrown into the air, constantly moving and shining. Kyungsoo could see the faint outline of someone’s porch in the distance—probably Minseok’s judging by the number of fairy lights. He and Baekhyun were enveloped by the darkness from all directions, like a fuzzy blanket, except for the fireflies dancing before them, their shine being reflected by the stream below.

Kyungsoo squeezed Baekhyun’s hand tighter—he didn’t want for this night to end. 

🌔🌔🌔

“Are you really sure?” Kyungsoo asked as Baekhyun leaned over his shoulder, trying to fish something out from the bathroom cabinet.

“Are _you_ sure?” Baekhyun reflected the question, a coy smile plastered on his face. 

“ _Yes_ , that’s why I asked you to do it. I want it, but on my own terms.”

“I wouldn’t mind if it was a little _bolder_ , you know? It would look cute,” Baekhyun said, repeating his point from earlier. They’ve already had this conversation. 

“But I would,” Kyungsoo said firmly before Baekhyun started mixing the bleach in a small bowl. “Medium-brown is bold for me, okay?”

“I have some fun colors here? Like blue, purple, some pink maybe?” He opened the drawer under the sink, showing Kyungsoo all the different, vibrant hair dyes he’d accumulated over the years.

“Just medium-brown, okay? Don’t go crazy with the developer,” Kyungsoo grumbled under his breath. He knew that Baekhyun wouldn’t, and that he’d listen to his every request, but it was fun to tease him 

Baekhyun kissed him on the top of his head. 

“Baek?”

He nodded, still mixing the bleach.

“I want to mark you.”

The bowl fell down from his hand onto the tiles, the loud cling making Kyungsoo flinch. “Well, I certainly didn’t expect this so quickly, I can tell you that,” he babbled as he kneeled on the floor.

“Sorry… I chose a weird moment,” Kyungsoo laughed awkwardly. 

“No! I’m very happy, don’t overthink my reaction, I was just distracted!” he assured. “I’ll be glad to wear your mark, Soo. Even if it’s only until the summer ends.”

“You remembered.”

“Of course I did. I'm counting down the days," he confessed, sounding earnest. “Yep, I’m getting sappy already,” Baekhyun laughed, sounding like he was trying to cover up his feelings.

“Yeah, that sounds like something you’d do.” Kyungsoo turned around on his chair and grabbed Baekhyun by his shirt, bringing him for a kiss. “But I’m doing it as well. We’ve got a little over a month and a half.”

“Why not longer?” Baekhyun asked, the tone of his voice implying that he was insinuating something more, but the words refused to fall out his mouth.

“Maybe longer,” Kyungsoo agreed.

The medium-brown hair color looked good on him—Baekhyun did a fantastic job.

🌔🌔🌔

His heart was racing when he stepped into Baekhyun’s bedroom. He knew what was coming next, his stomach already churning just at the thought of tasting Baekhyun’s blood, feeling his teeth sink into his flesh. But Kyungsoo wanted to do it, wanted to show Baekhyun how much he meant to him, how much he’d changed, and grown up to make this decision.

He pushed Baekhyun onto his bed and straddled him, his legs getting tangled into the blanket.

“Do you know the cleansing spell?”

“No,” Kyungsoo answered, already leaning over Baekhyun’s naked chest, trying to choose the right spot. Despite being the most popular place to display one’s mark, it was quite painful to get bitten on the shoulder. Kyungsoo would know, he was proudly wearing Baekhyun's bite there. And he knew Baekhyun could take it, but he was still hesitant to bring any kind of suffering onto one of the people closest to him, especially for a tradition he never thought he'd have a chance to follow. 

“Say it after me then.” He whispered the spell into his ear, the words sounding foreign to Kyungsoo.

He repeated the incantation the best he could. “Do we have some ointment just in case?”

“In the bathroom cabinet, don't worry, baby." Baekhyun smiled brightly, his pearly-white teeth almost glinting. "I'm sure you'll do amazing." He entangled his hand into Kyungsoo's freshly-colored hair.

It felt reassuring—to be fully trusted by someone he cared about, maybe more than he cared about himself. Baekhyun bared his neck, showing off the area he wanted Kyungsoo to mark, where he wanted to proudly wear the imprint of his teeth as if it were the most intricate piece of jewelry. Kyungsoo remembered sucking a bruise into the same spot weeks ago, back when he couldn't even entertain the thought of becoming anyone's mate, much less Baekhyun's.

And as Kyungsoo sank his teeth into Baekhyun's soft skin next to his collarbone, he could hear the heavy rain outside. The moment he tasted the first drop of blood, a thunderclap died away in the distance. He immediately reached for the water bottle standing beside the bed on the floor to get rid of the metallic aftertaste of blood.

“Everything okay?” Baekhyun asked him, sounding concerned. He sounded like he was in pain—it was making Kyungsoo's chest feel heavy. 

“I think I should be asking _you_ that.”

“I mean, it hurts like a bitch because I wasn’t distracted, but I’m sure I’ll get over it quicker if you kiss it to make it better,” he laughed, trying to look at the fresh teeth marks on his clavicle. The bite was still bleeding, the little droplets of blood trailing down his chest.

Kyungsoo stood up to grab a clean towel and some ointment from the bathroom. He cleaned the mark with the damp towel and kissed it for a few seconds, the blood clinging to his lips. "Feeling better?" 

"Much better." Baekhyun extended his arms to hug Kyungsoo. "Does it mean that… well—does it mean that you're my boyfriend?"

"And they were boyfriends!" Kyungsoo laughed.

"Oh my Gods, they were boyfriends!" Baekhyun didn't miss a beat. "I'm assuming that means _yes_." 

"You don't say." Kyungsoo playfully rolled his eyes before he started applying the ointment from the glass jar—Baekhyun winced.

“I certainly didn’t expect that buying a tow rope, of all things, would result in breaking the dry spell for me. Junmyeon was right, they _are_ useful!"

"You really did get me with that tow rope, so long, so orange, and so damn _sexy_ ," he tried to say with a straight face, in hopes of distracting Baekhyun from the slight pain as he continued to apply the ointment onto his tender skin.

"Hm, baby, wanna see my tow rope? It's 4 meters looong," Baekhyun dragged out the last word, making Kyungsoo drop the jar onto the bed, the glass bouncing a couple of times. 

🌕🌕🌕

The morning proceeding the full moon was excruciatingly quiet, almost to the point that it was starting to make Kyungsoo nervous. The anxiety was slowly eating him from the inside, making his lungs feel shallow. He wasn’t scared, he knew what genuine fear felt like and this wasn’t it, not in the slightest. In fact, it was more akin to excitement.

He couldn’t believe he was looking forward to the full moon. Hell, he couldn’t believe that he was going to, _willingly_ , spend it with a pack. That Baekhyun wasn’t some big, bad wolf looking for his Red Riding Hood. He was just lonely, and, in Kyungsoo’s opinion, overeager to help everyone around him. And that Kyungsoo had desperately needed that kind of unstoppable empathy in his life.

Meeting him had been such a weird wake up call—people like that existed, they really fucking did. And they didn't want anything in return for their kindness.

Kyungsoo sipped on his coffee as the sun traveled upwards in the sky, its rays starting to peek through the forest trees. Even Baekhyun was still asleep at the ungodly hour known as 5 AM—but not for long, Kyungsoo knew his alarm clock was going to go off in a couple of minutes.

He slid under the covers and hugged Baekhyun from behind.

"I made you coffee," Kyungsoo said. "And took Mongryong for a run."

Baekhyun buried his head under the duvet. "You can't just… do everything for me and expect that I leave the bed before 8…" For him, 8 AM seemed like an outrageously late hour. 

“You can sleep in… it’s not like you’re gonna be able to go sleep at all today.”

“Soo? Are you scared? You can tell me if you’re scared,” he mumbled as he reached for his coffee cup.

Kyungsoo laughed. “I think—I’m excited? I can’t believe I’m saying this. But yeah, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I can’t wait to spend the full moon with you guys. It feels surreal…”

Maybe if he kept telling himself that he wasn’t anxious his heart rate would lower. Although, his heart might have been racing because of Baekhyun, who decided to make Kyungsoo’s chest his new pillow.

“I can’t express how happy that makes me feel.” The gleeful tone of his voice made everything seem better. “You’re comfy.”

Kyungsoo gave him a kiss on the top of his head. “I hope so.”

🌕🌕🌕

Kyungsoo sang along with Baekhyun to the song playing on the radio. They were driving the same dirt road as a month ago, trying to reach the forest before the full moon.

“We should start a fucking band!” Baekhyun screamed over the music.

“You know what? We should!” Kyungsoo laughed.

Baekhyun just grinned at him in response before pulling into the camping spot where the pack always met. “Are you ready?” he asked.

Kyungsoo took his hand and squeezed it tightly. “With you? Always.”

“My sappiness has rubbed off on you.” Baekhyun gave him a kiss on the forehead. 

“As my cynism has on you. C’mon, they are probably waiting for us.” Kyungsoo reciprocated the kiss.

_Epilogue_

Mongryong started barking when Kyungsoo threw a bunch of leaves at Baekhyun as he tried to lift one of the pumpkins. Aeri, the little black cat they adopted together, looked at them with disdain from the back porch. 

“You’re a traitor!” Baekhyun laughed. “No soup for you! No soup!” He started running to the porch.

“I’m the one who was going to cook it!” Kyungsoo ran after him, a few leaves still clasped in his hand. His stomach was starting to hurt from laughter.

🌕🌕🌕

Kyungsoo curled up next to the fireplace, Baekhyun's head lying next to his ears. When he decided to take a nap in his wolf form he didn’t expect Baekhyun to join him.

"You're the best teddy bear I've ever had—actually, I think you're closer to a heated blanket. But still, you're the best heated blanket I've ever had," he said, sounding like he was going to fall asleep.

Kyungsoo felt like his heart was going to burst into his chest. He waited until Baekhyun's breathing became steady and shifted back. Baekhyun won't mind some hot chocolate.

As he waited for the milk to boil, Kyungsoo looked at the garden through the kitchen window, admiring the way frost covered every tree in sight, and the way ice hung from the branches or the little fencing they had. He loved living here.

🌕🌕🌕

“What plants do you wanna see in the garden?” Baekhyun tilted his head as he kept on weeding the patch of the soil before him.

“Tulips, but it’s too late to plant them,” he said, idly looking at Baekhyun instead of continuing to do his job. Kyungsoo might have grown up in the city, but he knew that tulips were planted in the late Fall, not in Spring.

“Till November then,” Baekhyun proposed, his whole face lighting up in a bright smile.

"Till November." 

Last summer he was counting days for it to end, this year he was doing it as well, but for an entirely different reason. He couldn't wait to see the four seasons in this garden again.


End file.
